Do You Want To Die?
by SSAFletch
Summary: Emily has a secret, and it may be her downfall... Reviews would be GREAT! Was rated T but as of chapter 7, its now M. This is my first story on here so please be kind! Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Criminal Minds...I wish!
1. Notes & Secrets

As the sunlight streamed in through the windows, Emily rolled over shielding her eyes from the harsh rays. With her arm outstretched, she quickly realised that the other side of the bed was disappointingly empty. Switching off her alarm clock before it had even signalled she should be awake; she almost missed the note on the other bed stand on her way to the ensuite bathroom. Picking it up, she couldn't help the grin which spread across her face.

_Morning beautiful!_

_I have the early shift this morning so I had to run, and I couldn't bring myself to wake you up. There's fresh coffee ready to go in the machine 'cause I know you can't go fighting criminal ass without your fix… _

_I'll call you on my lunch break,_

_I love you, _

_Taylor_

_xx_

Emily thought about just how deep she was in this relationship and how lucky she was as she stepped under the spray of the shower.

**_She was still crying. God how he loved it when they cried, it showed he'd broken their body completely and their spirit would soon follow. Once one died the other one began to beg, beg to that he would end it all. And he would kill them. Eventually. Once he had the answers to the questions he always asked- _**

**_Do you understand now how wrong you were?_**

**_Have you learned to enjoy what is right?_**

**_Do you want to die?_**

Emily stepped off the elevator and headed straight for the break room to get more coffee. Never as good as the stuff she had at home, not even close, but it would have to do seems as it looked like she'd be facing another day of the never ending pile of paperwork that was her desk.

'Morning Princess' Derek greeted her as she walked to her desk.

'Hey Morgan' she smiled at him. She wondered what she must have done subconsciously to earn the grin that spread across his face.

'Get lucky last night Em?'

She rolled her eyes 'Nope, why Derek?'

'You just look extremely 'satisfied' this morning in a way I only see after the ladies are lucky enough to spend the night with Derek Morgan' he said, his grin spreading even further.

'Is that right? I just had a quiet night in actually' she said, opening a file and therefore preventing the conversation progressing any further into this territory.

The truth was, that yes, she was in a relationship, and yes, she'd love to tell Morgan that she did indeed get lucky last night – more than once in fact – but the team had been unaware for too long for her to spring it on them, and she knew if she just told them outright now it would look like she purposefully lied to them and she didn't think she could deal with the aftermath of her deception. She'd been in the BAU for over a year now and she knew she'd finally become a real part of the team. Hotch had a respect for her now he never had before after the whole Strauss vs. Prentiss fiasco; Rossi had bonded with her straight away, seeming more like a father to her every day. Reid had finally accepted her, and now she knew he had been using, she really wasn't mad at him for being off with her in the beginning. Morgan was her partner, and she trusted him with her life, as he did with her. And then there was Penelope and JJ. They had taken her out on a 'girls night' basically as soon as she joined the team, and now they were best friends, telling each other little secrets and having a laugh at the expense of their other team mates sometimes. That was the part that tore her up the most. She wasn't lying to her team; she just wasn't telling them the whole truth, right?

She told JJ and Garcia about dates, good and bad…she just didn't mention they were all with Taylor.

She told them about the mind-blowing sex she had the night before whenever Garcia called her out on her rushed appearance… she just didn't tell them every wild experience was with Taylor.

She told them of the first real love she met in college, the one she fell for hard and fast… she just didn't disclose the fact that she was still with said lover, even after a break up for a few years, and that they were more in love and stronger than ever.

And she never mentioned that Taylor, the one person she'd go to hell and back for, was a woman.

Paste your document here...


	2. Paperwork & Phone Calls

_Author's Note: Okay, so here's another chapter, short and fluffy but seems as I got a great response so quickly (did not expect that) I thought I'd put more up. I won't be updating every day guaranteed because I'm going to make the chapters longer I think, but I'll let you all know._

_Real quick: Obviously Taylor is my own invention – you are about to learn a little more about her (stick with it and you'll get to know how they met, what she's like, what she does, etc...) – just to give you a setting; this takes place around series 3/4 so Rossi is there rather than Gideon, and the whole Strauss/Prentiss thing has ran its course. To give you fair warning; obviously this is a femslash and it will turn pretty dark after some fluffiness so be prepared! Also this is my first story up here so please be kind, and reviews or any comment/constructive criticism at all would be awesome._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Emily or anything to do with Criminal Minds, but Taylor's allll mine :)_

Never. Ending. That pretty much summed up the paperwork surrounding Emily as she sighed and looked up at the clock on the wall, taunting her until she could leave.

At around one o'clock JJ came bustling through the bullpen, dumped even more files on Reid, Morgan and Emily's desks and raised her eyebrows as the brunette's head connected with the surface.

'Rough day Em?' she chuckled.

'I'm bored out of my mind. Either we need a new case or Hotch needs to let us have a vacation. I can't stare at these four walls and these folders any longer.' As soon as she said it, she wished she hadn't. Whenever any member of the team asked for a case to appear, twenty did. And to be honest she could sit through another few hours of paperwork – begrudgingly – but quite easily when Taylor was the light at the end of the tunnel. Plus as Taylor was on the early shift for the foreseeable future, night times were definitely worth staying in town for.

'Well I'm here to answer your prayers Em' JJ snapped her out of her thoughts.

'Hm?'

'Case just in, we're heading to Phoenix. Briefing on the jet and in Hotch's words "wheels up in an hour"' she winked and retreated to inform Garcia of the details of the case.

Emily waited for her to leave before she groaned, allowing her forehead to drop onto the table top once more. A buzzing behind her head quickly caught her attention however. Smiling at the caller I.D, she answered, bringing the phone to her ear.

'Hello beautiful' she said, after checking that Reid and Morgan were still out getting lunch, and that the rest of the team were nowhere to be seen.

'Hey there she is. Sorry I couldn't stick around this morning'

Emily smiled warmly at her voice. 'It's okay I get it, I just keep forgetting you're up so early nowadays. Usually it's me sneaking around trying not to wake you up'

'Oh I didn't sneak around, you're just dead to the world when you're asleep' Taylor teased.

'Oh and like you're any different?' Emily countered, earning a laugh from Taylor which resonated deep within her, making her heart burst with pride that she had created the situation in which she could hear it.

'Anyways goofy what time will you be home tonight so I can make my sexy girlfriend dinner?'

'Your sexy girlfriend would love dinner with her even sexier girlfriend… but we just got a case. I'm sorry' Emily replied, feeling guilty before the words even left her mouth.

'Hey its okay, I get it. I can binge on a pizza and ice cream in front of the TV then. How bad is this one?'

'I'm not sure we're getting briefed on the plane. All I know is that it's in Phoenix'

'Okay well then I'll let you go. Text me when you land and I'll ring you before I go to bed, okay?'

'I will do. I love you Tay'

'Love you too Em, have a safe flight. And be careful'

'Always'

'Bye'

As she hung up the phone, Emily realised she missed her already. _God you've fallen deep _she thought again, for the millionth time that day.

It struck her how lucky she was to have a girlfriend so understanding of her job and her constant travel, so unaffected by the distance. To be fair, sometimes when Emily was home, Taylor wasn't. She was off working a double shift at the hospital, saving someone's life no doubt. Maybe that's why she got it so much, because Emily was off saving lives too, just not of people already hurt or in danger, just for the most part saving all of the potential victims of the monsters she dealt with everyday. People who were oblivious to the danger hiding right on their doorstep.

**_They had learnt their lesson. Sure, they didn't survive it; but a few sacrifices must be made to create a better world. _**

**_She had begged. Oh how she begged. And cried. And pleaded. He would have let her go… maybe. But she answered wrong._**

**_One wrong answer; and BANG. Dead. _**

**_She didn't learn to enjoy it. She still resisted. Test failed. No three strikes you're out, its one and you're gone. And she was most definitely gone._**

**_The next two? Well he needed more of a challenge, more of a fight. What he needed was someone who would get the attention of everyone. Someone with friends in such high places that the humiliation of those friends finding out alone would be enough for her to deny everything. And that would give him reason to make an example of her. And they'd all come running, trying to play the hero. _**

**_But they'd be too late. _**

**_They were always too late._**


	3. Showers & Doctors

_A/N: I know it's a bit early series-wise, but in my universe Will and Henry exist and Garcia's with Kevin. He may be a bumbling idiot... but in my opinion they're cute together. _

The case in Phoenix for all intensive purposes was a pretty easy one. They closed it quickly – some creep with daddy issues abducting small boys from their homes – and were heading home after just a few days. The case was simple, yes. But the hardest pill to swallow was the aftermath. Cases involving kids were always the hardest; there was no two ways about it. And losing that innocent boy when if they'd been just minutes sooner they could've saved him was certainly going to take its toll on the seasoned profilers.

JJ would go home to Will and Henry and heal through the love of her two boys. Derek would do get his groove thing on with a few beers and pick up some girl, or take hammers to dry wall. Anything simple and animalistic. Something that made sense. Reid would go and devour more books, saving all the information in that head of his for future reference. Hotch would find solace in his son, Rossi in some good food and alcohol. Garcia would cuddle up with Kevin and comfort food, and Emily? Well, she had Taylor.

She knew where Taylor would be as soon as she unlocked her apartment door. The music emanating from the master bathroom was a clue that it didn't take a profiler to interpret. Dropping her go-bag in the living room; she retreated into her bedroom to undress. Tay must've heard her enter as her voice echoed into the room as Emily removed her shirt.

'That you Em?'

'Yeah! You in the bath?'

'Yep! You joining me?'

'I'll be in in a sec!'

Emily walked into the bathroom, stark naked – something she had never been comfortable enough to do in previous relationships – only instead of getting into the bath with Taylor, or even acknowledging her, she jumped straight into the shower.

'Tease' she heard Taylor chuckle.

Emily let out a huge sigh of appreciation as the water soothed her aching muscles.

'Tough case huh?' concern ran through her voice.

It was at this point that Emily opened her deep brown eyes to take in all of her girlfriend. _God she is beautiful_ she thought as brown eyes met hazel.

'I'm just glad to be home'

'Kids?' Taylor enquired; and Emily's silence spoke a thousand words.

'…I'm just glad to be home' she re-iterated; indicating that she wouldn't say anymore on the matter. 'How was work?' she turned the attention to her girlfriend again as she poured shampoo into her palm.

'Good. That new scanner I told you about came Monday, and it works as well as I thought it would. Oh and Lauren had a breakthrough'

'Yeah?' Emily smiled at the news.

'Yep. Her cell counts up, which is great because now we ca-'

Emily always seemed to unintentionally zone out when Taylor slipped into medical jargon, the same way she saw Taylor's eyes glaze over when she got too far into why the profile of the killer in her last case was so interesting, or the repercussions of breaking protocol, or… well basically anything in FBI speak. Its not that what she was saying wasn't interesting, it's just that it was in those moments that Emily got lost in how amazing Taylor really was, and how proud she was of her.

It was also when Emily got maddest at herself for not telling her team about this amazing woman she had in her life. This woman she'd known since she was eighteen. Her first _real_ love. She'd love to turn to JJ or Garcia when they were talking about how she should find a boyfriend and say that actually she was gay. And she had a girlfriend. And said girlfriend was a paediatrician. Who specialised in oncology, no less. And yes, she may be a resident at Georgetown University Hospital, but she was so acclaimed in her field that she was frequently called in to DC Children's Hospital to help the research teams try to cure cancer and minimize the side effects of the various treatments on the kids unlucky enough to have it. She'd love to tell Derek all about her sexy doctor girlfriend, and see the way his eyes would pop out of his head when she introduced her to him. She'd love to introduce her to Reid even, and watch them talk in doctor speak in amusement. She'd love to tell the team, period. Because the truth was, she was completely in love and they didn't even know. But she was terrified that a good reaction wasn't what she would receive.

'Emilyyyyy' Taylor's sing-song I-know-you-weren't-listening-to-me voice broke her from her thoughts once again. 'Am I boring you?' she winked.

'No baby you know I just zone out when I get thinking' Emily replied, blushing slightly, fully willing to blame the hot water if Taylor called her out on her red face.

'Yeah yeah, you just ignore me. Anyways work was good. My mom called by the way, she wants us to come round for dinner Sunday if you're in town?'

'Actually I have the weekend off' Emily grinned as she stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel off the rack to wrap around herself.

'Is that so?' Taylor replied, pulling the plug and standing up, mimicking Emily's actions.

'Yep' Emily stepped over to give her a hand out of the bath, before placing a much needed kiss on the other brunette's lips.

'Well then Miss Prentiss, I believe we have to start our weekend together in style' a devilish smile spread across Taylor's face, just inches from Emily's.

'And what style would that be?' Emily played dumb as Taylor let the towel fall from her body.

'The style of you, me, and our bed' Taylor replied walking out of the room the way Emily entered, and looking damn sexy even if Emily did say so herself.

_A/N: No UnSub in this chapter, but he'll be back in the next one, which will be longer, and I'm hoping to have up tomorrow. I thought some fluff would lead us nicely to where I want to go with this story, plus you need to know what Taylor does for it to work… dun dun dunnn_

_For those of you wondering; the hospitals mentioned are real, and the girl mentioned, Lauren (get it? wink wink) has Rhabdomyosarcoma (a rare cancer) and you'll be seeing more of her. Also for the sake of you guys picturing Emily and Taylor, here's a little back story: They met at college, (age 18) got together, (age 22) broke up, (age 25) and got back together again (age 31). In this story they are 35. This is all to coincide with the time needed for someone to train as a paediatric oncologist. All will be explained soon… _

_Til next time! _

_Review?_


	4. Runs & Encounters

Emily woke up to fingers running softly up and down her side and breath on her neck.

'Morning' she mumbled, enjoying the peaceful feeling of waking up after actually being in the same bed with the woman she loved all night for once.

'Good morning' Taylor replied, placing a kiss below her ear.

'How often does this happen?'

'Does what happen?' Taylor played dumb as she placed a kiss on her neck.

'Us waking up in the same bed' she smiled, understanding exactly where Taylor was headed.

'Not often enough' she said, looking directly into her eyes before she slowly kissed the birthmark just below Em's right collar bone which she always paid special attention to. 'And therefore, I think we should make the most of it' she said with a devilish smile, before capturing the brunette's lips with her own.

**_Maybe it was time to use his old method. If he was going to get someone with friends in high places to even talk to him he couldn't exactly jump them from behind like the last two._**

**_No._**

**_He had to go back to basics, so he pulled out his phone, and typed in the number he now hated to call._**

Following their morning 'escapades' and a light breakfast, Emily and Taylor both agreed that a run would do them some good, especially as it looked like that would be all the fresh air they'd be getting that weekend. Emily finished tying her shoes, grabbed her phone and locked the door behind her as she jogged to catch up with Taylor who was already pressing the button for the elevator.

After warming up with a jog around their block, they agreed to race to the park, do two laps round the whole place, and the first person to their usual meeting point would win, forcing the loser to buy lunch. Grinning as Emily agreed, Taylor took off in a sprint down the block, and just picturing Emily's shocked face was enough to keep her moving through fear her FBI girlfriend might just kick her ass.

_Cheat _was the only word that ran through Emily's head as she fought to catch up with the figure of her girlfriend disappearing into the distance and round the corner away from her. _C'mon you're an FBI agent. You can't let her beat you!_ Emily willed herself on as she closed the gap between them.

On the second lap of the park, they were running in tandem, side by side, the race forgotten… or so Taylor thought, until they rounded what would be the last bend of their race and she barely had time to register the fact before she saw Emily break into a sprint beside her, easily beating her to the huge oak tree which towered the benches by the play area, shading them from the sun. Knowing that she'd never hear the end of it, Taylor didn't walk over to Emily, but rather went and collapsed down on a bench to catch her breath.

'Aww what's up baby? Can't take it that your girlfriend beat you?' Emily's teasing began the second she sat down beside her.

'Yeah yeah because it's so easy for a poor innocent doctor to beat an incredibly fit, in-good-shape-because-you-chase-bad-guys-all-day FBI agent' she rolled her eyes and tried not to sound like she was being too childish.

Knowing she was just winding Taylor up – which would not help her case when she wanted to move things to the bedroom later – Emily let it drop. 'Well if it helps I think your incredibly fit even without the chasing the bad guys part. Maybe it's all the chasing the bad cancer cells? Or maybe I'm just biased because I think you're sexy' she winked, kissing her on the cheek lovingly.

'Sweet talk won't help you Em' joked Taylor, guessing Emily's thoughts. Her girlfriend may be the profiler, but it didn't take a genius to know what Emily's ulterior motives were.

Just as Emily was about to respond, her phone rang out. Checking the caller ID, she groaned.

'Who is it?'

'JJ. If this is a case, I swear to God-'

'You could just say "look Jennifer, I'm not coming in, I'm spending some much needed time with my girlfriend. Yes, girlfriend, a.k.a I'm a lesbian"…It would work'

'Much as I love you Tay, that's a lot to reveal over the phone' Emily smiled apologetically, placed a chaste kiss to her lips and walked a few feet away to take the call.

Sighing, Taylor turned her attention to the play ground, smiling at the young kids running around.

'Sound's like a tense issue' a voice beside her snapped her from her thoughts.

'I'm sorry?'

'I didn't mean to intrude, I just overheard the two of you' the man smiled warmly, like he understood what was going on. She hadn't even registered his presence beside her beyond seeing if there was room on the bench next to him when she had flopped down a few minutes previously.

'It's okay, we're not exactly quiet. Yeah it's just something we don't exactly see eye to eye on' she smiled back, leaving it at that.

'Relationships huh?' he chuckled.

'Yeah' Taylor glanced up at Emily 'but she's definitely worth it'. She watched Emily end the call and motion towards the park gates, silently asking if she was ready to leave.

'I'm sure she is.' The mans words hung in the air, as Taylor quickly said goodbye and left. A smile spread across his lips as he found who he was trying to see.

'C'mon Daniel! Time to go!' A young boy ran over and as he lifted him into his arms, he took one last look at the couple.

The _secret_ couple.

**_Yes, _**he thought **_they'll do nicely. _**

_A/N: ohhhhhh look's like someone's made an appearance again after being missing in the last chapter…_

_I'll hopefully have more up tomorrow. _

_Review? :) _


	5. Stalking & Lunch Breaks

_A/N: I'm sorry for the delay, I've been stuck with heavy school work, and I've been working on another few stories, so I hope none of you have been hanging in there waiting haha! Enjoy!_

* * *

**_He pulled his car into the same spot he'd parked in yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that… _**

**_They were so oblivious it was almost laughable. She was supposed to be an FBI agent for God's sake; and she hadn't even noticed him follow them home from the park to see where they lived – in sin – and from there to work, which he discovered was the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was giddy just at the thought of humiliating her to the Bureau, and the fight he was sure she'd put up. Only apparently she wasn't that good of an agent, because it had been almost a week now he'd gone unnoticed… and her time was almost up._**

* * *

Emily couldn't put her finger on it but she knew something was up.

Yet again; they'd had another week of paperwork - which although she hated with a passion - it meant that she could spend her evenings with Taylor, a rarity which was becoming increasingly frequent, and something she could get used to quite easily. They'd done more together this past week than they had in months. Actually going places and doing things rather than just seeing each other before work; or crawling into bed next to one another, too tired from their days work to do anything other than sleep. It was nice, and it was seriously making her question the travel involved with the BAU, and whether she just wanted to get a normal nine-to-five shift in the Bureau instead…

Another case file hitting her desk and an apologetic smile from JJ snapped her out of her deliberations.

'Wanna head out for lunch Jayje?' she asked hopefully.

'Can't Em, I have far too many files to get through still, I was just gonna grab something from the vending machines. Sorry… tomorrow?'

'Hey I get it. Yeah tomorrow then' she smiled, inwardly groaning as JJ walked away.

Pushing away from her desk, and leaning down to grab her purse from inside her bottom drawer, she addressed the other team members presently around her.

'Hey Morgan, Reid' she said, grabbing their attention 'wanna come grab some lunch with me?'

'And risk having to stay later here tonight? Sorry Princess I don't think so' Derek shot her his best don't-get-mad-at-the-sexy-guy smile that he always sent her way when he wanted to get his own way with her.

Rolling her eyes, she turned to Reid.

'Spencer? You coming?'

'Sorry Emily there's a movie playing at the sunset theatre downtown tonight at five that I want to make sure I get to. It's interesting really, it's all about this guy who-'

'So that's a no then?' she cut him off.

'Sorry' he looked at her sheepishly.

'It's fine Reid. I'll be back in half an hour guys' she smiled at them before walking out of the bullpen, sending them a small wave as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

**There she is,****_ he thought as we watched her exit the building through his binoculars. He was counting on this; she had a tendency to leave for lunch. He pulled out of his spot and watched her car in the rear view mirror tail his out of the lot. A smile spread across his face._**

**_Let the games begin._**

* * *

She decided to get a sandwich from her favourite coffee shop downtown, so she pulled into the right hand lane behind a red SUV and waited for the light to turn green. Smiling at the empty streets; she thought about the good aspects of her job, the weird hours she worked being one; although they messed up a lot of things, they also meant that she frequently missed the rush hour traffic to and from work, and during her late lunch break.

Her phone began to ring, and knowing straight away who it would be she knocked it straight on loudspeaker and then grinned at her voice.

'Hey Em'

'Hey Taylor, you okay?'

'Yep' Emily could just picture Taylor's smile mirroring her own. 'So I take it just from the fact you answered you haven't been called on a case yet?'

'"Yet" being the operative word, yes. I'm not holding my breath. We'll probably be called out by this time tomorrow'

'So you'll be home this evening then?'

'So far so good! Listen I'll ring you back later I'm heading to pick up lunch and the light is about to go green'

'Okay. I'll see you tonight. Love you!'

'I love you too Tay' Emily smiled sweetly as she hung up, and as if on cue, the light turned green.

'I guess it's my lucky day' Emily murmured to herself as she pulled off the handbrake and pressed on the gas.

And then it all happened so fast. She was following the red SUV up an abandoned duel carriageway, and next thing it had veered out of control into a ditch by the side of the road.

Hearing crunching of metal and glass, from within her own car as she drove past, Emily pulled up on the hard shoulder a few yards away from the car, and ran to the wreck plunged into the tree line.

'Hello!? Are you okay!?' she yelled as she reached the driver door, pulling it open… and then everything went black.

* * *

_A/N: There will be a long chapter up tomorrow; with our first meeting of Emily and our 'lovely' UnSub, so I won't leave you hanging too long._

_I wanted to put this up though because I'm not the type of person who thinks that Emily Prentiss could just get abducted from the FBI doorstep, it would take a lot to catch her in my opinion!_

_Reviews? :)_


	6. Missing Profilers & Revelations

_A/N: So I figured due to the delay in my updates this week I'd put this up today. Just a forewarning – this story's rating will be changing to M in the next post!_

* * *

_'What the hell happened?'_

That was the only question running through Emily's fuzzy head as she tried to focus her blurred vision on the room around her. She was on the floor, she knew that much, and as she pulled herself she ended up leaning against something. A wall? No, upon closer inspection she realised it was a bed. '_What the hell is going on?'_ was the next question to present itself loudly in her head.

The sound of a door being unlocked caused her to snap her head to the right.

'You're awake. Good.'

* * *

_'Where are you?'_

_'I'm heading home. Food poisoning -_-. Barely made it out of the shop if you catch my drift… I'll see you tomorrow, and you can give me all the cases you want x'_

_'Uh-Oh… Okay, but if you're not feeling good in the morning, call in sick! You are allowed to be ill sometimes you know ;) x' _

JJ read over her messages from the previous day once more before hitting the screen to call Emily again. It was now 10am, she hadn't called in sick, and therefore Emily was most definitely late. Emily was never late. Something was up, and she was now second guessing the conversation they'd exchanged when Emily didn't return from lunch yesterday. The recording told her to leave a message, so she did. Again.

'Hey Em, it's me again… Look just give me a call okay, I'm starting to get worried, and we have a case. Bye.' Sighing, JJ picked up the case files tried to push the worry from her mind as she headed for the room the team knew as 'the round table room', collecting them all on her way.

* * *

Once the team was comfortable, JJ began.

'Okay, so D.C police have called us in. Three women have been found dead in the Georgetown area, their bodies are left in public places and have been discovered by several passers-by in each case.'

'Sheila Thomas was a white brunette, Vicky Jones a white blonde, and Julia Bowen was black. This guy's victim type is all over the map' Morgan observed.

'Yeah, and that's exactly why they want our help' JJ replied.

'I want to get straight in with this, at the rate these bodies are turning up, and the amount of torture shown each time is escalating, and whoever he has now needs our help as soon as we can get it to her. JJ you and Reid stay here and work victimology, and try to create a geographic profile; Rossi, you and I will head out to the station and tell the lead detective that we are going to run point on this case from here; Morgan head out to the latest dumpsite and see what you can come up with, and Garcia I need you to look into these women's lives, see if you can find what connects them.' Hotch gave out orders as he got up along with Rossi and Morgan and began to leave the room 'Oh and JJ can you try and get a hold of Prentiss again? We need all the help we can get connecting the victims on this one.'

'Well wish me luck with that' JJ muttered as she scrolled to Emily on her speed dial once again while sharing a concerned look with both Garcia and Reid.

* * *

'Who the hell are you?' Emily demanded straight away as she watched him shut the door behind him, locking it again in the process.

'Me? Oh I'm not important here Emily. You are the important one; you see this whole situation is about you. And the lies you tell, the people you deceive everyday. The people who place their trust in you, unaware of how you betray them. This is about you and you're team. They don't know you like I know you Emily, but they will. And when they do, they'll never find you. They'll be too late. They're always too late.'

Before she could even comprehend what he was saying he had slammed the door behind him again and left her to ponder what the hell she'd ever done to this guy. Why did he hate her so much, and how on earth was she going to get out of here? With that last thought declaring itself the most urgent in her mind, she began to formulate a plan. Hell, she was a damn good FBI agent, and if she couldn't get away from one weirdo, then everyone might as well be doomed.

* * *

After an hour, the team all regrouped to go over what they knew… which as it seemed, wasn't an awful lot.

'Any word from Emily?' was the first question out of Derek's mouth upon entering the room again, and a silent sigh of relief washed over everyone else due to the fact that none of them now had to ask it themselves.

'No. I just can't get a hold of her!' JJ declared, increasingly frustrated by this point 'Hotch can I head round to her place and see if she's there?' she asked hopefully.

'I have a better idea, Garcia, track Emily's phone please' he glanced around at the questioning glances 'seeing her phone's there is a hell of a lot faster than sending JJ to see for herself.'

'Erm, Sir, she's not at home.' Garcia said; the apprehension building inside her by the second.

'Well where is she?' Rossi asked

'Her phone's telling me she's off highway 7… only the signal's not moving, and from what I can tell it's been in the same place since yesterday…' she trailed off.

A brief look of worry crossed Hotch's face before he put up his mask again and told Morgan and Reid to head to where the signal was coming from and see what was going on while the rest of them had lunch. 'The case can wait half an hour.'

* * *

'Hey Hotch man I can't see her car or her cell, or anything really' Morgan spoke down the phone, scanning the area as he did so.

'That's where the signal is coming from hot stuff' he heard Garcia reply.

'Morgan over here!' Reid beckoned him towards the trees off the hard shoulder.

'What is it man?'

'Look' was all Reid had to say as Morgan let out a frustrated breath at the sight.

'Hotch, Emily's car's not here, but there is a red SUV. Reid's sending you the plate number now Penelope'

'Running it!'

'Um, Morgan, this isn't good, look what's in the front seat' Reid motioned Morgan to look through the window. Derek swore under his breath before he replied to JJ's questioning over the phone as to what he was seeing.

'It's her phone Jayje. And her gun and badge. Someone's taken her.'

The whole team could hear the frustration in Derek's voice. How did they not search for her cell sooner? She was probably taken yesterday when she didn't come back after lunch, and a team of supposedly brilliant top-of-their-field profilers didn't see that as suspicious?

'Hotch; do you think the UnSub has her?' he questioned, not wanting to hear the answer he knew he'd get.

'Erm, guys, there's something you should all know' Garcia's voice interrupted before Hotch could even begin.

'What is it Baby Girl?'

'When I was looking into possible links between victims, I went through their cell phone calls, messages, e-mails and the like…'

'And Penelope?' Rossi questioned, not liking where this was headed.

'Well… see… the thing is… erm… all the victims, they… they were gay.'

* * *

_A/N: I know there wasn't a lot in here with Emily and the UnSub, but there will be plenty of that in the next chapter, I PROMISE! Only like I said at the beginning of this one, the rating will be changing to M, so make sure you know where to look!_

_Another warning: this story is about to get darker; like in emotional, dramatic and possibly even sexual ways, so if you don't want to see our favourite two girls hurt, maybe this is where you should jump ship… (Only I hope you don't!)_

_Reviews would be awesome so I know what you guys think about the direction this is heading in :) _


	7. Suggestions & Staircases

_A/N: So I couldn't come up with a name for the UnSub for the life of me. Nothing fit in my head with the face I pictured, so I enlisted the help of a faithful reviewer- __**rmpcmfan - **__and he was christened! A little more Emily/UnSub in this chapter, but there will be even more in the next one, enjoy!_

* * *

'What is it Baby Girl?'

'When I was looking into possible links between victims, I went through their cell phone calls, messages, e-mails and the like…'

'And, Penelope?' Rossi questioned, not liking where this was headed.

'Well… see… the thing is… erm… all the victims, they… they were gay.'

* * *

'So, Garcia?' Reid said, not getting what she could be hinting at.

'Well, they were gay, as in they all had girlfriends, only… their families didn't know'

'How do you know that?' JJ questioned

'Because they all seemed to argue with their partners about it, from what I can see in their texts, about how the people closest to them didn't even know how serious they were with each other'

'Hold on, Garcia are you honestly suggesting that Emily is gay? That she wouldn't have told us that? C'mon, she may be distant from her parents and all, but she's with us all day every day, how could we not have seen that?' Morgan was getting frustrated at the suggestion

'I know that Derek, I'm just saying that the people closest to the other victims didn't know either and-'

'Baby Girl! Emily was-'

'Okay enough' Hotch cut in 'look, we do not call Emily a victim until we know she is one, and right now what Garcia is saying is a valid suggestion. Morgan, Reid, come back here, we'll send local police out to work that scene. Bring Emily's stuff with you. We work no other cases until she is home where she belongs.'

'Okay Hotch' Morgan replied before hanging up.

Hotch turned to the rest of the team. 'When they bring her phone, Garcia I need you to go through it, and see if there's any evidence that she thought something was up, or that she was indeed hiding her sexuality from us. Can you do that?'

'I can try Sir'

'Good.'

'JJ, I need you to try and get through to Emily's mother and inform her of the situation'

'Okay sir' JJ went to leave and make the call she knew she wouldn't enjoy 'Hotch,' she paused, looking back 'do you want me to ask her if Emily is… you know?'

'No, we don't want to fill her head with those ideas if she isn't'

'Okay' and with that JJ went to call Emily's so nicely nicknamed bitch-mom from hell.

* * *

Emily had been awake for hours now and he hadn't come back yet. Her legs were starting to go numb from sitting in the same position against the wall, primed and ready to pounce as soon as he entered the room again. She had quickly moved to lean against the wall opposite the bed - after he left with his ominous '_They'll be too late. They're always too late_' hanging in the air - upon realising that she wasn't the first person who'd been held in this room, and she'd be damned if she wanted to find out what happened on that bed each time a new woman was brought here. She'd rather lean against the cold cinderblock than on blood, and god knows what else, that was coating the stained mattress. Footsteps – coming down stairs maybe? – signalled to Emily that she should get into a crouching position ready to fight her way out.

_'Okay, breathe' _she thought, before taking deep, calming breaths _'you're a kickass FBI agent who could give Morgan a run for his money. You can do this'. _Just as she finished her mental pep-talk she heard the key in the lock, and she edged towards the side of the doorframe which would mean he couldn't see her for a couple seconds, enabling her to throw him off guard.

The door swung open. 'Emilyyy. Wakey wake-'. He didn't even get his full sentence out before Emily used the open door to knock him off balance, pushing with all her force. The impact of the heavy steel handle connecting with his side knocked him off balance; forcing him to fall to the floor with a thud. Landing a heavy kick to his ribs before taking off in a run up the stairs, Emily underestimated the time it would take for him to get up again, and heard his angry huffs quickly approaching behind her.

* * *

'Well it was a pleasure talking to you too Ambassador.' JJ's voice oozed sarcasm as she entered Garcia's lair to get an update. '…Bitch. No wonder Em hates her so much' she mumbled as she flopped down heavily in the office chair next to Penelope, threw her phone on the desk in front of her, and only then realised the tears rolling down her best friend's face. 'Garcia? What is it?'

'She has a girlfriend Jayje. Either that or she's awfully flirty with this 'Taylor' woman'

'You're sure?' JJ managed to get out despite her shocked state

'Yeah, and you know what? I'm not even mad at her for not telling us. You know why?'

JJ shook her head no, speechless.

'Because they are possibly the cutest couple ever. They totally match. Emily gets all gushy lovey-dovey with her one minute; next their sending flirty might-as-well-be-sexts-minus-the-pictures messages, and next their debating what to cook for dinner. They're a normal, happy, completely in love couple. I'm just upset that she hasn't introduced us to this woman, who, just from the way Emily texts her, I know is amazing'.

'Really?'

'Yeah, I mean listen…' Garcia began scrolling through the messages she had open on one of her many screens '…erm… okay, this is from last month when Em had that meeting with Strauss, remember?' JJ nodded 'Em says 'How do you say "pull your head out of your ass and go fuck yourself" politically correct?'

JJ laughed out loud at the memory. 'she was so pissed that day'

'I know! Well Taylor wrote back 'I do believe that thy self should commence at once to retract thy head from thine ass and should proceed to pleasure thy own self' Garcia read - half from memory, having already laughed a lot at the message before JJ even got there.

Once JJ had stopped giggling, Garcia read another one 'Okay this is Em - I'm sorry beautiful but we've got a case…I know we had plans tonight. Taylor - Its okay, I completely understand, you know that. Em - I know, but you know I still feel guilty. I'll call you from my hotel room whenever we get to sleep okay? I love you. Taylor -Okay. I love you too baby.'

'They're in love.' JJ stated; the realisation setting in that Emily did indeed have girlfriend, and that said girlfriend was a serious fixture in her best friends life, apparently.

'Yeah, so lets bring Em home to her girl, shall we?'

'I better go fill Hotch in' JJ stood up to leave

'Okay, tell him I'm trying to locate Taylor as we speak'

'Will do' JJ shut the door behind her.

* * *

Emily got as far as the top of the stairs before she hit another obstacle – a locked door.

'Oh no you don't' she heard his voice bounding up right behind her, but she was hardly going to be giving up just at a locked door. Spinning around, she met her company with a swift foot to the chest, and watched him tumble back the way he came for a second, before turning back to the task at hand. She pounded against the wood, but it refused to budge. She jiggled the handle non stop, but it refused to loosen. She leaned back as far as she could, holding on to the banisters either side of the steps to stop herself from falling, and landed as many kicks towards the lock side of the door as she could, kicks which would make Derek proud, but it resisted all her efforts.

Typical. Emily could put up a fight for all she was worth, she'd knocked down serial killing psychopaths; pathological rapists and just plain weirdos without any effort throughout her years at the BAU, but she couldn't knock down one god damned door!?

Annoyingly, the door wasn't her biggest problem right now, the man whose laugh was becoming progressively louder at the base of the stairs was. And he was exactly the person who she now had to go take the keys she needed off. Great.

Walking down the dimly lit stairs slowly, Emily found it hard to focus under the single light bulb, swaying within the dust filled air which she'd oh so rudely interrupted by pushing the UnSub. She could make out the figure of the man in the square of light emanating from through the open door to the room she had no desire to re-enter.

She knew he could hear her approach from behind, she had no illusions otherwise, but that didn't make her hesitate, she simply planted another kick to his back before he could roll over or grab her foot and stop her.

'What's your name?' she demanded. She'd need to tell Garcia when she got out of here so she could trace his records.

'Does it kill you that you don't know it while I know yours? Does it _Emily_?' he rolled onto his back, a small trickle of blood made its way down his face from above his eyebrow.

'What is your name?' she repeated, attempting to appear in control while she frantically searched his body with her eyes for any sign of a set of keys.

'Chris. My name is Chris. And that, dear Emily is all you get to know' he said, grabbing her ankle, and pulling her down next to him before she could react. Climbing on top of her, he merely chuckled more as she struggled beneath him.

'Now you're going to go to sleep, and rest up, because tomorrow, my dear Emily, is when the fun begins, and I wouldn't want you to miss it.'

A smile graced his lips as he slammed Emily's head into the cold concrete beneath her.

* * *

_A/N: Well her secret is out, but that's not where the teams snooping in her life will stop._

_I'm hoping to have another chapter up in the next day or two, but in the mean time I'd appreciate any reviews I can get :)_


	8. Motives & Video Tapes

_A/N: Sorry for the wait!_

* * *

Fists on flesh. Blood on the floor. Scraped knees and cut lips. Those were a few of the sensations flowing through Emily's body; just snippets of the pain she was enduring. But she took it; she took it all, because she knew this guy. 'Chris'. She'd take it all until he wore himself out, because he was just like the rest, all the other crazy psycho's she'd be put in a confined space with, and she knows the routine now. Let him wear himself out; get out all of his rage in one go – a hurricane of flying fists and kicks to the stomach. She knew this dance too well, it occurred to her. He'd collapse to the floor, exhausted, or leave the room, grinning, because he'd know that he'd broken her.

Only she wasn't another victim. She was Emily Prentiss. And he had another thing coming.

* * *

'So what do we know?'

JJ took the question from Hotch as a greeting. 'Emily's a lesbian.' She stated to the group of profilers.

'Look, I've said this once and I'll say it again, if Em was gay she'd have told us. Maybe not when she first joined the team, but it's been ages now and she's part of the family. Why the hell wouldn't she have brought it up?'

'I'm just as pissed off and confused as you are Derek but its true. Her girlfriends name is Taylor Williams and from the looks of their texts they've been together a while. They're serious, and they're in love. So it looks like Em really is the next target the UnSub had in mind.' JJ elaborated her point.

'We're sure?' Hotch questioned.

'Sure as I am that chocolate is the best flavour of everything' Garcia quipped, winking at Morgan as she entered the room with a laptop under one arm. She plugged it in to show what she knew on the flat screen behind her and began to explain. 'Okay so Taylor, or Tay as I will from now on refer to her as, because she strikes me as a "Tay" don't you guys agree, I mean look at her and Em in this picture, that's a "Tay" to me and-'

'Garcia.'

'Sorry sir. Okay, anyways as I was saying; here's what I know. Tay is a paediatrician who specialises in oncology, she's like crazy good according to all of the requests she gets for help, and the recommendations from various hospitals she has worked in on occasion. She currently resides at Georgetown but she works at least twice a week in DC Children's Hospital on the oncology ward there. She's working there today, and when I traced her phone through her number on Emily's, its telling me that that indeed is where she is currently. Also I pulled Em's voicemails, and since her disappearance, Taylor has left ten voicemails and has texted her seventeen times. I didn't want to invade in their privacy until I'm ordered to, so I only listened to the last one. She sounds frantic, and is threatening that if Emily doesn't call her to put her mind at ease, tell her that we've just been called on a case and she hadn't gotten round to calling her yet or whatever, that she is going to call us and reveal all so that we can help her. That was left at ten thirty this morning, and I can't see much activity since, so I'm assuming she's getting out of work this afternoon to come see us.'

'So Emily pulled a doctor' Derek muttered to himself more than anyone else.

The whole team looked at him.

'_That _is all you have to say about everything she just said' Rossi questioned, eyebrows raised.

'Well yeah' he replied, causing everyone else's eyebrows to rise along with Rossi's. 'Look,' he sat up properly to address them all 'I don't give a shit if Emily is gay or straight, or bisexual or attracted to ducks. She's still Emily. _Yes_, I'm pissed she didn't tell us, and _yes_, she will be told that. But right now she's _missing_, and she's got a girlfriend – who is sexy as hell judging by that picture – who is scared shitless about where she is, and from the sounds of things she's pretty awesome. So I'm just gonna assume that Hotch is about to send me and JJ to go get her and bring her here to question her, and that's fine by me.' He got up and headed towards the door 'JJ? You coming?'

It struck JJ that she agreed with everything Derek just said. 'Yeah, I'm coming' she got up and went to leave.

'Hold on' Hotch interrupted 'Yes, that is the plan, but we still don't know everything we can about their relationship. Judging by this guy's pattern, he only takes the woman who is hiding her sexuality from the people closest to them. In this case that's Emily, so we can assume Taylor is safe for now. I still want you two to go get her, but the rest of us will stay here to establish a base we can use when asking Taylor about their relationship. Hurry up bringing her here, we could use all the help we can get understanding this.'

'Yes sir' Morgan and JJ replied before leaving the Bureau as fast as possible.

* * *

Emily lay as still as possible so as not to aggravate her injuries. Everything hurt like hell, and she had to really try to ignore the pain of how tightly her wrists were bound, but her mind was strong and she knew that's what counted in this situation. She also knew that the team would know she was missing by now, and that they wouldn't stop until they found her.

She could just picture it now; Derek swooping in to rescue her like the prince charming he was to her princess. JJ planting a bullet between Chris's eyes without flinching, before coming and murmuring maternal comforting things into her ear while squeezing her hand. Reid bringing books to her hospital bed – for the short while she's be there – and spouting off statistics about the number of agents actually admitted to hospital each year. Rossi promising her a bottle of wine with him once she was out of there. The slight smile Hotch would send in her direction whilst telling her to behave for the nurses, that they were just doing their jobs. Garcia with the abundance of flowers and teddy bears which would soon stink up her apartment and line up like soldiers at the foot of her bed. And Taylor.

God Taylor was going to be _pissed_. All Emily could think about was how she was going to get the speech about how much she'd worried her, and how scared she was, and Emily was shit scared to hear her girlfriend break down, to know that she was the cause of all that pain.

But what she wouldn't give right now to see Taylor and hold her, and tell her she loved her. And that she was sorry; sorry for all the stupid insignificant things she'd ever done… and the big things. Sorry that she hadn't married her yet. Sorry that it had taken so long for them to move in together. Sorry that she didn't have a safer job…

Right at that moment; Emily made a checklist in her head:

1) Get out of here, alive.

2) Tell Taylor I'm sorry for all the worry I've caused her.

3) Quit the BAU… maybe.

4) Ask Taylor to marry me.

5) Marry her in front of the people who matter.

6) Go on a honeymoon which lasts months, not weeks. Show her all the places I grew up, the places she's heard so much about. Make good memories there.

7) Kids?

She was pondering number seven when the door opened once again.

'Ahh you've regained consciousness then' his disgusting voice filled the air. Emily wasn't sure exactly what it was about it, but it was one of those voices that forces you to follow every last syllable as it reaches your ears, allowing it to engulf your thoughts with its intensity. 'It's about time'

Emily didn't want to use any energy by sitting up, so she simply followed him with her eyes. It turned out that she didn't have to do anything anyway, because without much resistance he pulled her up to a sitting position and turned her so her back was against the wall, effectively forcing her to meet his eyes.

The thing Emily hated most about him? – Other than his voice? – His face. He wasn't ugly, or damaged, or scary. He was actually handsome. Like if-I-wasn't-into-chicks-I'd-totally-hit-that handsome. He was the guy you trusted; the guy you let help carry your shopping to the car, just because. And that's what totally unnerved Emily, because she wasn't totally and unconditionally repulsed by him. His actions, sure, but physically, he wasn't intimidating. Yet he packed a punch. That fact alone scared the shit out of Emily; not that she'd let it show.

'So' he leant back against the bed so they were sitting opposite each other 'I guess you're wondering "why me?"' he smirked 'well I'll tell you. I'm sure you have theories; so let's go through them shall we?

One: no I'm not against the FBI.

Two: no I'm not against your mother.

Three: no, I'm not a guy from your past.

Four: no I'm not some psychopath with a tendency towards brunettes.

Five: …Yes, I do have a problem with lesbians.'

He let that statement hang in the air before continuing.

'To be more precise, I have a problem with lesbians who haven't come out to the people closest to them. See, that's deceit. And if there's one thing I can't stand, its liars. Again Emily I can see your Agent Prentiss brain working. The cogs move behind your eyes, did you know that? No, my mother wasn't a closet lesbian. No, I myself am not gay. Yes, my bitch of a wife, or should I say _ex- wife, _is a lesbian.'

Again he let the statement hang, only this time he shuffled closer to Emily; leaning so there were mere inches between their faces as he lowered his voice. 'You see Emily; I was married to her for five years. Five years and then BANG. One morning it was 'how'd you sleep?' 'Want some pancakes' and that same night she was packing a bag and coming out to me; leaving me with my son.' Again he moved closer, increasingly closing the gap between them. 'Now Emily; you might be wondering why I'm telling you all this, especially considering I told you only hours ago that my name was all you would learn during your time here, but I'll confess something more to you: You are not going to get out of here alive. So any notions in that pretty little head of yours that you will, you should abandon now.'

* * *

Garcia settled down in front of her many screens once again.

She hated this.

She hated it on a normal day; sifting through a strangers life, learning their inner most secrets and feelings, looking through their credit card bills, bank accounts and even their damn mail subscriptions. She didn't know whether Taylor or Emily got _Cosmo_ delivered, and that's how she wanted it to stay. She wish she could unsee just how loaded Emily was (_Jesus, she doesn't even need this job…and neither does Taylor)_or that she had just bought a pretty damn expensive necklace for Taylor's 35th birthday. And now Hotch had ordered her to crack into Emily's laptop, retrieved from the boot of her car.

_Here goes…_she thought, while the start up screen burst into colour. She quickly bypassed Emily's passwords using her software, and she was soon greeted with a home screen plastered with the grins of the team and Taylor, an interlocking background of images. Smiling, she took a deep breath and opened her various files to cover her array of screens. She found a folder full of home videos, and opened the first one she saw.

Her screen came to life with the view of Emily's bedroom.

_Please don't be a sex tape… please don't be a sex tape…_

She smiled as she watched what must be Taylor's hand snake across Emily's naked back, exposed from under the sheet, and listened to the conversation as she gently kissed her awake and threw an oversized Yale shirt in her direction, before promptly turning the camera away from her as she dressed _'you're lucky that I'm willing to resist filming you naked in case anyone ever finds this labelled 'Emily's birthday' and gets curious' _she heard Taylor joke, the camera's view shaking a little as she laughed. A grin spread across Garcia's face as she watched Emily come into view again, her - apparently - natural curly hair stuck out in random places, evidence that it was her natural bed head as opposed to her usually styled, in control head of hair. A smile she'd never seen before graced Emily's lips, clearly that was the look that Emily had when she loved someone as completely as she loved Taylor. Because Garcia had never seen such a peaceful look upon Emily's face, and she really wanted to meet the woman who put it there.

* * *

_There it is _Emily thought, as she watched the grin spread across his face. _There's the 'I've broken her' grin. Cue his exit…_

He made to leave the room, but before he did, his fingers gripping the handle, he turned and looked her right in the eyes. 'Enjoy your sleep tonight Emily, I really enjoyed today, but I think you'll like the view tomorrow' he threw a small square in her direction. She didn't want to turn it over. She already knew what it would be.

Swallowing hard, Emily held back the tears until he'd locked the door behind him and ascended the stairs, his footsteps fading away over her head. In her hand she held one small thing: a picture.

But it depicted the one thing she never wanted to see in this hell hole. The one thing she only wanted to see on the outside…

Right there in front of her eyes was Taylor. Bound and gagged, in that same godforsaken van he'd brought her here in. When he said the view would improve, she knew it would only improve for him. He got off on her pain, and seeing Taylor hurt would surely tear Emily apart.

* * *

_A/N: So I know this is longer than usual; but I'm going away until Friday, so I won't be able to update this until at least next week._

_Sorry about the cliff-hanger! ;)_

_Reviews would really inspire me to pick this back up again next week…_


	9. Good & Bad Reactions

_A/N: Sorry again for the wait! I did pre-warn you guys!_

_This chapter isn't very long and it's team-heavy but I'm hoping to have another chapter up in the next couple days which will go to Emily/UnSub/Taylor. _

* * *

The echo of Garcia's heels against the BAU floor echoed round the corridors which were now abandoned, considering how late at night it was. The team was gathered in the round table room, photos of Taylor and Emily were scattered across the table, interspersed with the many maps Reid was working on and the case files which were slowly becoming thicker with information about the couple and their past. Rossi and Hotch were up working on a profile whilst JJ and Morgan brainstormed out loud. They all looked up as Garcia flew into the room, laptop in hand.

'What is it PG?' JJ asked hopefully; desperate for anything that could help them find her best friend. It had been seven hours now since she and Morgan had rushed to DC Children's Hospital only to be told that Taylor had phoned in to say she wouldn't be coming in that day - 'personal emergency' being the excuse - and six since they found her things dumped in a bin outside to ensure that Garcia's trace would lead them there. Their lack of a lead was frustrating everyone; but JJ was letting her cracks show. The whole team could tell that she was upset that Emily hadn't trusted her with her secret sexuality, and also that she was terrified she'd never be able to tell the stubborn brunette that it didn't matter to her – a sentiment they all shared.

'Two things… well three actually.' Garcia replied as she set about hooking her laptop into the huge plasma screen again. 'One, I called up the crime scene techs working the scene at the hospital and requested Tay's phone so I could look through it like I did with Em's. It didn't really confirm anything more for me than the fact that they are indeed the cutest couple ever. Two, I've found Taylor's mom's current home address you wanted for that interview Hotch. Three… Um… well, I've been sent an e-mail with a link which I didn't want to open without you guys…'

'Why baby-girl?' Derek questioned, worry building in the pit of his stomach.

'Because it's from Emily's e-mail address directly to me, sent about ten minutes ago…'

'Open it up Garcia' Hotch ordered.

Garcia did as she was told, as the team braced themselves for whatever they were about to see.

* * *

'I'll be right there!' a voice sounded through the door.

'Okay we just break it to her easy and go from there' JJ reminded Derek. Nodding back at her, Derek plastered a fake smile on his face and reached for his badge as the door opened.

'Hello' a woman in her late fifties smiled at the profilers.

'Mrs Williams?' Morgan asked

'Yep, that's me, only is Andrea. How can I help you two?'

'We're with the BAU at the FBI, and-'

'Emily's team right?' Andrea smiled at them knowingly. 'Let me see… Derek?' Following his nod she turned to the blonde '…and Jennifer?'

'Yes ma'am, that's us.'

'Come on in' she said as she opened the door wide and motioned them inside.

* * *

'So' Taylor's mother broke the silence after motioning them to the couch 'I'm going to break the pleasantries and get to the point. Something has happened to the girls hasn't it?'

JJ and Morgan exchanged a look before Derek spoke up 'why would you jump to that assumption'

Andrea smiled politely before replying 'I may not be a profiler but I'm not stupid either. If something had happened to my Taylor then Emily would be the first one round here to tell me. She would never send her team members first. Plus seems as I thought you weren't aware of their relationship; I think it's a pretty safe bet to assume that Emily is missing or hurt too… now tell me agents, how far off am I?'

'We think that Emily was kidnapped around lunch time yesterday; and Taylor sometime late this morning. We have also recieved a video confirming that our UnSub has them.' She let that information hang in the air before continuing. 'We found out about them as Emily fits the profile of a case we've been working'

'And what profile is that' Andrea met JJ's eyes

'Women in same sex relationships that hide it from their families.' JJ stated, hurt evident in her tone.

'Oh honey' Andrea lend forward and grabbed JJ's hands, forcing her to meet her eyes again 'she didn't hide it from you all to hurt you, it's more… complicated than that'

'Mrs Will- I mean, Andrea. We would really appreciate it if you could give us more insight into their relationship so we can understand what it is about the secrecy that attracts our UnSub'

'So what you really want to know is why she didn't tell you all, and what the story is, and then you're going to ask me the real questions right?' she smiled as both agents avoided eye contact guiltily.

* * *

'Okay so the first thing you need to know is that Emily hasn't told you guys not because she doesn't trust you, but because she is scared of your possible reactions. …She may kill me for this but you need to understand.

When Emily was a teenager, she wasn't the woman you know today.

She was off the rails. She drank, did drugs, and partied, hard. Her dad had left when she was nine, and her mom was horrible to her. She always got speeches about what a disappointment she was and so on, so she used just to cope.

When she was fifteen, in Rome, things... well, they got so bad that... she tried to kill herself.

She took more drugs than she knew she could handle and cut her wrists. Her friend, Matthew Benton I think his name was, found her, and phoned an ambulance. He saved her life.

Her mom didn't help her recover in any way; she just kept saying how embarrassing the whole thing would be if it got out and how she didn't understand what Emily was thinking; so Emily told her.

She came straight out with it… literally.

Told her mom that she liked girls, and that she needed her help to understand. Told her about the priest who'd sentenced her to damnation if she didn't resist her urges, and told her that she was scared.

You know what her mom did?

She slapped her in the face and told her that the priest was right; that she better resist whatever urges she was having, because if she didn't she was no daughter of hers.

Emily went into a complete down spiral with the drugs and the drinking, and one day she was a little too careless, and her mom caught her kissing another girl. That's when her mom moved them back to America, and basically ignored her existence until she left for college. That's where my Taylor comes in.'

* * *

'I knew she was gay even before she did, I could just tell. It didn't make a difference to me; I mean you don't choose who you love, right?

Anyway, she gets into Yale, and not long after I'm hearing about this girl she's met, her new best friend. It was Emily this, and Emily that, and then one day she comes home to see me, sits me down, and tells me that Emily's not just her best friend, she's her girlfriend. She was so nervous, which I guess was because she knew how Emily's mom had reacted.

I laughed… which was probably not the best reaction in hindsight.

Taylor started to cry, and then I told her that I already knew, and that it didn't matter to me, that my one question was when I would get to meet this Emily that my daughter had so obviously fallen for.

She brought her home that Christmas; and since then I've not just had one daughter, I've had two.

You see Jennifer, Derek, what you need to understand is that Emily didn't tell you at first because she didn't know you; and it takes a hell of a lot for her to let people in, as I'm sure you've probably realised by now. And she didn't tell you once you got to know her because she was scared. Terrified, in fact, that you would react like her mom did, or that you feel deceived by how long she'd kept it a secret. So please don't be angry with her, that girl has a lot of emotions, she's just not so good at expressing them.

Now, my questions to you.

Who has my girls? And how are you planning on finding them?'

* * *

_A/N: So I wanted to give you guys more of a background in this chapter, plus I don't want as much team in the next one, which is mostly written ready for later this week. Sorry that that means I'm leaving you hanging there longer!_

_(As you probably understood, in this universe Emily's abortion never happened, instead she attempted suicide)_

_Reviews would be amazing!_


	10. Videos & Confusion

_A/N: Sorry for the delay! My internet connection's been limited to say the least._

_WARNING: Homophobic/bad language and graphic scenes - and by graphic I sometimes mean of a sexual nature._

* * *

JJ and Morgan entered the conference room with Taylor's mother, Andrea, in tow. Silence had fallen over the room as they walked in, and only Derek was willing to break it.

'So we know that Em and Taylor are quite open about their relationship in general; like they don't try to hide it in public or anything, and we learned some stuff from Andrea here about their past. But nothing really that we could connect to our UnSub'

'I'm sorry I couldn't be of more-'

'Please, don't apologize, you just being here willing to help is going to help a hell of a lot more than if we didn't have your input' JJ cut off her apology.

'JJ; can you try and get a hold of the Ambassador again please' Hotch asked, aware that any possible insight into their relationship would help.

Andrea grabbed JJ's arm as she went to get up 'Oh, she won't be of any use to you. She'll hang up as soon as you mention my Taylor'

'I take it she doesn't exactly approve of their relationship? Or is she just plain homophobic?' Rossi questioned, already getting the feeling he knew the answer.

'Homophobic would be putting it lightly.' Andrea dismissed. 'Now, I want to see this video the UnSub sent please' she requested, putting air quotes around the word 'UnSub'.

'Mrs Williams; I really don't think that's the best idea…' Reid trailed off, obviously still visibly shaken from whatever he had seen, his coffee cup jittering slightly in his hand.

'Please honey, its Andrea, and I need to know for definite that this monster has my girls.'

Nodding his head, Hotch turned to Garcia. 'Play the video'

* * *

Garcia set up the video and left the room, asking to be called back in when it was finished.

The screen showed a dark room; light emanating from a single light bulb swinging slightly at the top of the frame. A bed filled most of the view, a side shot, showing someone who couldn't really be identified until she shifted slightly in her drug induced stupor. Once she moved it was clear; it was Emily Prentiss.

The sound of a door opening forced everyone in the room's eyes to move to the right hand side of the screen, where the slightest bit of a door could be made out in the shadows. A man entered, all in black, only becoming distinguishable from the shadow as he stepped into the light. He wore no mask; his face was right there, and yet Garcia couldn't find him in any system. He didn't cover his face because he didn't need to; plus he found a thrill in just knowing that he was taunting them.

He placed a box onto the floor behind the bed, hidden from the view of the camera, as he loomed over the woman beneath him. She was laying on her side; stripped to her underwear, facing the lens, her hair falling gently over her face; concealing its left side. They could see that she was handcuffed to the bed, her arms raised above her head, and her legs appeared to be tied to the posts at the bottom.

'_Emily…_' he shook her shoulder '_Emily…_' she began to stir, and as her eyes opened he grinned '_there she is. Wakey wakey; your team is watching. And we wouldn't want them to miss a second of this now would we?_' He looked up at the camera, before gently moving the hair off her face, revealing her bruised features; and her nose sticky with drying blood.

All the team could do was watch as Emily began to fight her restraints, unsuccessfully, and avoid eye contact with the camera. '_Now now Emily, lie still! If you cut those wrists of yours, there'll be no one to clean them. And I wouldn't want your team to be preoccupied with your wellbeing when there is a greater matter at hand._'

He leant over to speak to Emily more closely. '_How do you think Jennifer and Penelope feel; knowing that the woman they've called their best friend has lied to their faces all this time? And how do you think they'll feel when they realise that that couch they've sat on watching movies on many a girls night, is the same couch you've done disgusting things with your girlfriend on? I mean, they're smart; beautiful, straight women. How do you think they'll ever understand why you would want to do the things you do with that girlfriend of yours, instead of make love with a man… like you were designed to do?_' He glanced up when he mentioned her team's names, and he glanced up once more as he leant down to open the box he had entered with.

'_You see you use these… these 'toys' you call them, to make up for the 'parts' you don't have… surely that alone should be the clue that you should be with men rather than women Emily'_. He proceeded to dump the contents of the box at the foot of the bed, smiling as Emily flinched when some made contact with her legs. '_Now these aren't yours, no, I couldn't get into your home if I tried, but if my wife had these… tastes, then I imagine you do too._'

The disgust was evident in his voice; and the team could only watch in horror as he reached for the zipper of his jeans, and Emily's face conveyed the fear she would never usually let show in front of them.

'_Only I'm not going to satisfy what you're craving with the instruments you use. I have had three questions for every woman I've had here; and one of them is __**'have you learned to enjoy what is right?' **_He pulled down her panties._ 'Oh Emily, we're just getting started here, you will learn to enjoy it. And you will know how wrong you have been. And trust me, that girlfriend of yours will break way before the big bad FBI agent. So close your eyes Emily. Taylor is next.' _With that he stopped speaking; and once again the team had to look away, whilst Andrea cried silent tears. He forced his way into her, and a scream they could see her fighting made its way out of her mouth.

* * *

It was freezing. And cramped. And dark. And Taylor had no idea where the hell she was.

All she knew was that she had a horrible feeling about the whole situation, and that she could hear murmuring coming from close by. She tried to sit up; but that movement alone caused her head to spin and her stomach to clench violently. Forcing herself to move slowly; she rolled onto her back in the confined space, and fought to keep the contents of her stomach where they belonged. She was about to shout out for help when she heard something which made her empty said contents into a pile on the cement next to her.

A scream.

And it was most definitely her girlfriend.

'Emily?'

* * *

_A/N: So now my internet's back up, I promise I will be updating this tomorrow. _

_I'm going to give you as many chapters as I can this week as I'm going on holiday Saturday and I won't be able to update basically for two weeks._

_I'd LOVE to hear what you guys think; because this is my first attempt at writing anything this dark. So, review? :) _


	11. Crying & Envelopes

_A/N: I promised! :)_

* * *

'EMILY!' Taylor was up – ignoring the nausea hitting her in waves – and slamming her hands into all the walls around her trying to distinguish which hard surface was the door. 'EMILY!'

She still could hardly see anything, despite her eyes adjusting to the darkness. She found the door handle but it wouldn't budge. 'EMILY!' Her throat was beginning to ache from how long she'd been screaming, but she was hardly going to give up now. 'EMILY!'

The door swung open suddenly; flinging Taylor across the small room, forcing a wince out of her mouth as her shoulders made impact with the opposite wall. Again, her eyes were forced to adjust to the change in light; and she struggled to make out any details of the figure blocking some of the light from what appeared to be a small corridor.

'What did you do to Emily you bastard?' Taylor threw herself forward, fists swinging, not taking into account her lack of balance due to her throbbing head. Huge hands wrapped around her wrists, catching her mid-swing.

'Oh honey, you won't be worrying about that bitch when you find out what I have in store for you.'

* * *

Garcia led Andrea to her 'lair', pulled a chair out for her and passed her a tissue box.

'Its okay, that's why I couldn't watch it again, and I've only stopped crying myself' she said, squeezing one of Andrea's hands.

'I'm sorry, I knew he was hurting them, and I know I _asked_ to watch it, but I wasn't prepared for that' she slowly regained control of her breathing and wiped her eyes clean.

'You don't have to apologize for anything! The only one who should be doing any apologizing is the monster hurting my raven-haired-salsa-dancing-ass-kicking-crime fighter and her super-smart-super-sexy-doctor sidekick!'

Andrea laughed out loud at the descriptions Garcia provided and looked up into the brightly-dressed woman's eyes 'you're definitely the Penelope Emily described to me' she said with a smile, squeezing her hand back.

'She's told you about us then?' Garcia questioned, smiling brightly.

'Yes, she talks about you all constantly. It's an honour to meet the famous Penelope Garcia, despite the circumstances.'

A huge grin broke out across Garcia's face. 'Well it's an honour to meet the woman responsible for the existence of the woman who puts such a big smile on our Em's face'

'So she smiles like that at work too then?' Andrea smirked knowingly.

'Yeah… I never really understood it, you know, how she can smile through all of the stuff we see everyday; but I get it now. I've had to read their messages… which I see as a huge invasion of privacy, but I wasn't really given a choice… anyway, just from reading them I can see why she smiles so much'

'Taylor loves Emily and Emily loves Taylor, it's just that simple' Andrea stated, with Garcia nodding in agreement.

* * *

A silence fell over them for a moment before Garcia broke it again. 'How are you not mad at Emily, Andrea?'

'Why would I be mad at her?' Andrea raised her eyebrows.

'Well, because if she had told us about their relationship; it wouldn't have been a secret, and they wouldn't be in this situation… Taylor wouldn't be getting hurt'

'I could be angry with her I suppose… but I can't be. If I was angry with Emily I'd have to be angry with Taylor too – she agreed to keep it from you all, she never forced Emily to tell you, if she had then they wouldn't be in this situation would they? Emily couldn't know that they'd be attacked, and she certainly didn't ask to be hurt… physically and sexually' she took a moment to recover from that statement before she continued 'I'm not mad at Emily. I just want them both home where they belong.'

* * *

Emily's body hurt. Everywhere.

Her wrists were cut raw and her ankles had rope burns; her arms and legs were aching from the strain of fighting her restraints, her stomach longed for food and her mouth begged for water. And that wasn't even taking into consideration the cuts, bruises and blood adorning her body, and the pain from the one place no one but Taylor should be allowed to touch.

She was damned if she'd give up now. She was attempting every which angle she could to try and free her hands from the cuffs which she was becoming increasingly certain were her own FBI-issued pair, and the rope twined around her ankles. Small trickles of blood were making their way down her forearms, but she wasn't thinking about the pain, she was trying to block it out, which was becoming harder to do by the second.

She could hear faint noises which to her trained ears could only mean that Taylor was nearby, and putting up one hell of a fight. She'd heard her scream her name, but before she could shout back 'Chris' had been quick to cover her mouth, before gagging her with yet more rope.

_This is all my fault. _

Emily's mind was screaming at her, louder than even Taylor's screams were.

_Why didn't I just tell the damn team!? _

She heard a thud, and a cry of pain which she instantly connected with Taylor.

_I know how this is gonna go. We will get out of here alive; my team will come for us. But then what? She's not going to want to even be in the same room as me. _

She waited to hear more movement, but not a sound emerged from the room – she was assuming – next door. Emily's eyes widened in fear.

_Taylor!?_

The only thought on her mind now was Taylor, and how she was going to be able to annoy the UnSub just enough to keep all the attention on her, and away from her girlfriend.

* * *

Now that Andrea was situated with Garcia; who couldn't really do much until her computer traced the original place the link came from, the team were situated in the conference room, trying to establish where the UnSub could have met the couple.

Reid entered with a brown envelope; held tightly between shaking glove-covered fingertips.

'Uh, guys?' he gained the attention of the room 'This was just delivered to Emily's desk. It's addressed to us.'

* * *

_A/N: Shorter one today, longer one tomorrow? _

_As always, reviews would be awesome!_


	12. Doubts & Photographs

_A/N: Sorry for the delay! I went away on holiday, and I didn't have my laptop with me. I tried to get this up before I went, but my dad disconnected the internet the day we left before I could upload._

_Bumper installment to make up for it!_

_Italics are thoughts, just in case you guys didn't get that_

* * *

Emily's eyes widened and she smiled slightly to herself under her mouth's rope restraint when the UnSub walked back into her room. The bloody nose, busted lip and cuts on all spaces of skin she could see confirmed what she already thought: he had no idea what he'd gotten himself into kidnapping her girl.

Instantly, however, her relief was replaced with her previous panic as she realised that she still hadn't heard a noise from Taylor's cell, as well as the fact that she knew Chris wouldn't have come back in here with her if he was still fighting her girlfriend.

_Does that mean Taylor's unconscious? Or is she dead? No. No, she can't be dead. She's not dead. _

_…Why am I not hearing anything from her then? _

_She's just hurt. She has to just be hurt._

'Hello again Agent' Chris's disgusting voice cut off her desperate thoughts.

Emily went to reply with a smart-ass comeback – to make him focus his rage from here on out on her rather than Taylor – before she remembered the gag he'd so kindly placed in her mouth.

'Oh, want to talk Agent? Well let me help you facilitate that.'

Before Emily had time to process what he meant, the rope had been pulled from her mouth up and over her head; allowing her to shout the one thing she needed to hear a reply to.

'TAYLOR!'

* * *

Shocked silence still consumed the room containing the five profilers. Reid hadn't made a move to open the envelope, and no one had taken it from him until Morgan stood up abruptly and strode over to him in three steps.

'Here pretty boy, I'll open it.' He grabbed some gloves from the cabinet in the corner, before taking the delivery from Reid and motioning him to sit down. He peeled back the top of the envelope and hoped to God that this wasn't proof of Emily's death.

'Damn!' Derek said whilst angling whatever he was looking at slightly.

'What is it Derek?' JJ questioned, her voice breaking a little in the middle.

'The exact opposite of what I thought it'd be' he declared mysteriously.

'What do you mean?' Reid still hadn't caught on to the slightly awkward smirk Derek was sporting.

'I mean, I was worried this would be proof of a dead Emily. But she's very much alive here… I'm pretty sure our guy is trying to show us he was stalking them' and with that he laid the pile of pictures on the table, and everyone's eyes travelled to, then promptly looked away from the print on the top of the stack.

It had obviously been taken through blinds or a curtain of some sort framing Emily's windows, due to the slight haze the picture possessed in its details. But before any of the team looked closely enough to realise that, they'd had to get used to the feature most predominant in the image, that of Taylor and Emily. Emily was lying on her back, with Taylor straddling her. Both were naked, their hair still wet (_from a joint shower?_ Was the question running through Derek's mind) and the only things hiding their modesty from the team was the sheet hanging from Taylor's waist, and Emily's arm concealing their breasts as her hand gripped Taylor closer, her fingernails digging slightly into Taylor's bare back.

It wasn't a disturbing image, or even something the team would consider grossly pornographic. It showed two women obviously in love; kissing passionately and so close that they were touching everywhere they possibly could. It was only uncomfortable for the team because this was Emily. Their Emily. And she was quite obviously making love with her girlfriend; something that they knew they didn't have any right to see.

* * *

Chris had unlocked her cuffs and untied her legs before rolling her onto the floor where she was currently being kicked repeatedly in the ribs, unable to catch her breath enough to fight back. Whenever she had a second between kicks she was screaming Taylor's name. Tears ran down her face with a growing intensity as she didn't hear a reply. At this point she didn't give a shit that she was showing him weakness; didn't give a shit that it would get him off later, didn't give a shit that he'd think he'd broken her, in fact, she didn't give a shit if he killed her right there, because she had the increasing feeling that Taylor could be dead, and if she was, she didn't want to live.

He crouched down beside her, watching her struggle to breathe what with the damage to her body and the sobs she couldn't control. 'Taylor can't hear you honey; trust me on that. But seems as she is all that's on your mind, lets play a guessing game shall we? How many times do you think she screamed your name? Twenty…maybe thirty times? To be honest, I wasn't keeping count; but she stopped after a while. Once I convinced her that fairytales aren't real – that her female knight in shining armour wasn't going to save her.'

He allowed that statement time to sink in; time for Emily to grow even more concerned that Taylor wasn't breathing in the next room, as he straightened to his full height once more.

'I might just send this particular video to your team though, I'm sure they'd be disappointed and awestruck in equal measure at how fast you gave up. So face the camera' he turned her head against no resistance 'and smile.' His own face broke into a grin just thinking about her team's reactions, and the shame Emily would surely be feeling.

'Jennifer's watching' a kick was delivered with JJ's name.

'And Penelope' …a kick.

'And Derek' … a kick.

'And Spencer' …a kick.

'And Aaron' …a kick.

'And David' …a kick.

'…and you must know that Andrea' a kick 'would be with them by now.' Her ribs had started to crack by Garcia's name, and they proceeded to break with slight crunching noises as he moved his attack continually along her sides.

Emily lay on her back, unresisting, and finally admitting to herself that maybe it was best to give up. _I mean, what did he say? 'Taylor can't hear you, trust me?' If she's dead then I don't care what he does to me. I don't care if the team gets here in time. I don't care if I die._

Whilst Emily had been pondering surrender, Chris had moved to open his jeans again. He straddled Emily whilst he pulled down her underwear yet again. She tried to push him away, but it wasn't the first time she'd tried and failed, and she had no energy left to fight him anymore.

She could feel her body giving up; shutting down. She'd always said that she was the strong one, that she could compartmentalise better than anyone on the team, and that she'd never give in to a low-life like Chris. But she'd never factored Taylor into the equation; never allowed herself to even consider that she'd ever allow Taylor to be put in danger. She'd always firmly believed that she'd protect Taylor well enough that no-one would ever get to her. But she'd failed, and now Taylor was dead or dying and Emily was giving up. She despised that thought, but she knew that's exactly what she was doing, giving up. But strangely, she didn't really care.

* * *

'I've got Garcia running the prints through ViCap, we'll know ASAP if we have a hit' Derek re-entered the room.

The photos had the same prints on them as the envelope. He'd been sloppy; and they'd never been so grateful for an UnSub's mistake in their lives. Said photos were now spread across the conference room table.

JJ couldn't take her eyes off one particular picture. In amongst the collage of Emily leaving home; Emily leaving work, Taylor leaving home, Taylor with a patient, them on a run, them heading out for lunch… there was one picture that made JJ's heart ache to have them both home and safe.

It was Taylor and Emily, hand in hand, just walking into a bar. Only they were so dressed up they must've come from a fancy event. Maybe the Ambassador's Christmas party? JJ could picture Emily taking her girlfriend along just to piss off her mother. They were forehead to forehead, just pulled apart from a kiss, and the love in Emily's eyes was indescribable. It made JJ all the more determined to bring them home.

Andrea was back in the conference room with the team, trying to piece together events with pictures to create some kind of timeline. The team had tried to hide that 'particular picture' from her, but she'd seen it; and instead of putting it down or looking disgusted, she cried. Just as she was about to explain the picture JJ couldn't put down to the team, they all turned to the sound of running heels on the catwalk.

'WE'VE GOT A HIT' is all they needed to hear to be on their feet and ready to move.

* * *

Chris finished and pulled away, and after replacing her underwear he sat down next to her.

'Now Agent. I have three questions for you. You better hope you answer them correctly. Oh, and if you don't answer aloud we're going to have a problem. Okay?'

'Yeah' Emily managed to rasp out.

'Good. One: **do you understand now how wrong you were?****_'_**

Emily inwardly rolled her eyes. 'Yeah.'

A smile appeared on his face. 'Two: **have you learned to enjoy what is right?'**

Emily felt disgusting but she pushed the answer out anyways. 'Yes.'

If Chris grinned anymore, his face would split in half. 'Three: **_Do you want to die?_****'**

Emily couldn't say yes to that, no matter how desperate she felt, surely?

Her silence was deafening.

'I said. Do you want to die?'

Again, she didn't open her mouth.

He leaned over her until he was centimetres from her face. 'I'll only say this once more. Do you want to die?'

She forced herself to meet his eyes. 'No.'

'What did you say?'

'I said. No.'

His smile fell away. 'Wrong answer, Emily. Wrong answer.'

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the cliff-hanger…_

_Now I'm back, I promise more updates soon, especially as I planned out everything else in this story while I was away._

_However, I'm having doubts about this story as I'm not hearing a lot from you guys so I don't know if I should even bother finishing it. I came home to some reviews and stuff which made me feel a bit more confident about the whole thing, but still. Reviews would be awesome so I have some idea what you are all thinking chapter by chapter._


	13. Blood & Goodbyes

_A/N: So thanks to some faithful –and new also- reviewers Bobby Taylor; LittleLamb92, Hanzoo, rmpcmfan, rmwlaf and sammymccoy, I've decided that I will finish this story as there alone I have six people who genuinely enjoy this story, and I wouldn't be so cruel as to just stop. So you don't have to riot now LittleLamb92! ;) _

_Hold on tight guys; this one packs a punch!_

_As always, Italics are thoughts._

**_Bold italics _**_in this chapter are__** the team on the phone **__to Garcia._

* * *

'WE'VE GOT A HIT! WE'VE GOT A HIT!' Garcia came running into the room and slammed a print out from Vi-Cap on the table. 'His prints were in the system from when the police ran a background check on him last year.'

'Why'd they run a background check?' Rossi asked, stood up and itching to move like everyone else.

'His wife left him and wanted to retain primary custody; so she took him to court. They ran a check, he came up clean, but his prints were put in the system in case they ever needed them again.'

'Did he gain custody Garcia?'

'No. Due to him being between jobs, plus his tendency to drink since his wife left, she was granted primary custody. …and her partner was granted secondary custody.'

'Let me guess, her partner is a woman?' JJ rolled her eyes as she asked.

'Yep blondie she is'

'There's our trigger. We got an address Garcia?' Derek asked while edging towards the door.

'I've sent it to your phone Derek and yours Hotch. And the head of the FBI has given us any warrant we need to - and I quote - 'bring back our agent, but keep it quiet.'

'Let's go' was all Hotch needed to say for them to be out of the door and heading down the stairs into the bull pen.

'Wait!' Garcia shouted, running after them and stopping them in their tracks

'What is it Garcia?'

'I… I was just sent another link, but this one's not to a pre-recorded video; it's live.'

The team all looked at Hotch for his reaction.

'Open it, and keep us up to date on what's happening to them.'

'Ah… I… Okay Sir.' Garcia walked after the team to the elevator and waited with them.

Hotch stopped just before entering and turned back to Garcia 'And Penelope; I'm sorry I have to make you watch that'

'I'll keep you up to date sir.'

* * *

Chris bounded back into the room and leered over a still-trying-to-catch-her-breath Emily. 'You see that camera?' he announced pointing to the red light in the corner that had suitably pissed off Emily since the first time he pointed it out. 'Well that's just gone live to your little friend Penelope. Only its signal is bouncing all over the place so she won't find you in time, believe me on that. In fact-'

Emily cut him off with a deep chuckle to herself.

'What's so funny?' he demanded with yet another kick to her already broken body.

'That's going to Garcia?' she asked, looking up at him. At his slight nod she resumed her laughter before she locked eyes with him. 'Then you're screwed.'

'No. Emily you are.' He walked over to the camera and looked right down the lens. 'Penelope, I hope you're sitting comfortably for the show. Oh, and I'd ask Andrea to leave the room… she isn't going to want to see this.'

* * *

'**_What's happening Garcia?'_**

'He's just come in and told Emily that we're watching, and that I should tell Andrea not to watch-'

'Like hell am I leaving' Andrea cut her off. 'I'm watching no matter what.'

**_'We're fifteen minutes out Garcia even with the speed we're going and with sirens and lights on, do you think we'll get there?'_**

'Yes. He's only threatening right now… Okay he's left the room again…'

A few moments passed before Derek's voice filled Garcia's lair again.

**_'Is he back yet?'_**

'No. …Wait. The doors opening… Fuck. Hurry guys!'

Accompanying Garcia's observations the team heard Andrea gasp.

**_'What's happening Baby Girl?'_**

'He's carrying Taylor.'

* * *

Emily couldn't breathe. She was just catching her breath back when the air was knocked out of her lungs by the sight of the one thing she never wanted to ever see. She had the sudden urge to be sick, but her body was in complete shutdown mode.

'She's the doctor and you're the FBI agent right? Well I hope she's taught you something, because now's the only chance you're gonna get to save her Emily' the UnSub's voice echoed in her ears as he dumped Taylor on the concrete in front of her and left the room, locking it as he went.

Emily couldn't register what he'd just said as she scrambled across the floor ignoring the protests of her body, trying to make sure she wasn't imagining what she was seeing.

'Taylor?' she whispered 'Oh shit, Taylor…'

Taylor was stripped to her underwear just like Emily; only unlike her there was no bruising around her thighs, rather her skin was freezing to the touch. Blood matted her hair and cuts and bruises adorned her face, arms and torso. _Defensive wounds_ the profiler inside Emily observed. But the real Emily, the one Taylor knew, couldn't focus on any of that; she couldn't get past the pain written all over her girlfriend's face, the way she was writhing around whilst trying to stay conscious, and the stab wound which ripped apart her stomach, coupled with the sheer amount of blood escaping from it.

'Taylor! Hey baby look at me' she demanded, straddling her girlfriend, using one hand to turn her face to meet her eyes, and the other to start applying pressure.

A slight smile graced Taylor's features, and a look of relief washed across her face as she cupped Emily's head in her hands. 'Emily.'

The way Taylor's voice broke as she whispered her name scared the shit out of Emily, and she hurried to apply both hands to the wound with more pressure. 'Hey baby, tell me what to do. C'mon. I need you to tell me what to do.' She begged, tears already streaming down her face.

'It's okay Em'

'No it's not Tay, c'mon, tell me what to do!'

* * *

'HURRY UP DEREK PLEASE' Garcia shouted down the phone; tears streaming down her face in equal measure to Andrea as she watching everything unfold on her computer screen. She could almost hear the UnSub laughing now.

'**_What is it Baby Girl? What's happening with them?'_**

'She's been stabbed Derek. There's a lot of blood. You have to hurry!'

**_'Emily or Taylor Garcia?'_**

'Taylor. Taylor's been stabbed and Emily's trying to stop the bleeding. How far away are you!?'

**_'Eleven minutes baby, eleven minutes.'_**

'Derek, she might not have that long'

**_'We have medics tailing us; and you and I both know Emily won't let her die.'_**

* * *

'Em, I love you'

'I love you too'

Taylor pulled Emily's face down to meet hers and sealed their love with a kiss.

'Tell my mom-'

'No. I'm not telling her anything you can tell her yourself.'

'Emily…'

'No Taylor. No. You're gonna be fine, okay? My team is coming. I promise you they'll be coming. Just hold on baby, please. I need you to hold on.' Emily was still attempting to stop the blood flow; without much success. 'FUCK!'

'Emily look at me' Taylor said, using the hand cupping Emily's face to pull her gaze towards her. 'I'm not walking out of here-'

She looked away as she cut her off. 'No, you'll be in an ambulance. But that's okay, they'll take you to the hospital and you'll be fine! You-'

'Emily.'

She forced her eyes to meet Taylor's, the tears streaming down her face showing no signs of slowing up anytime soon.

'You need to tell my mom I love her. She already knows it, but she'll need you to tell her again okay?'

'…Okay.' Emily mumbled; her face buried in the crook of Taylor's neck for the millionth time since she'd been dumped on the concrete in front of her.

'I love you Emily. I've loved you a really long time, and nothing this bastard has done can take that away, okay?'

'You're saying goodbye.'

'I have to Emily I can't hold on much longer'

'Hold on for me. Come on, my team's coming! Please baby just hold on'

* * *

'Derek where are you!?'

**_'Five minutes Garcia. We're on his land, but he's in the middle of nowhere.'_**

'She's saying goodbye Derek you've got to get there in time'

**_'We're trying Baby Girl, we're trying.'_**

* * *

'You don't know they're coming'

'They will.'

'If they've not come by now, what makes you think they even know where we are yet?'

'They'll come.'

Taylor smiled at her girlfriend. 'Your faith in them is amazing.'

'I know my team. They're coming. Just hold on baby. …Do you hear that?'

The faint sound of sirens in the distance filled the room with hope. 'That's my team. I told you baby, c'mon hold on for me they're here.'

The door swung open to reveal Chris; flustered and angry, gun in hand.

'I told you you were screwed.' Emily muttered towards him, not taking her eyes off Taylor. She leaned down and whispered in her ear 'I love you'

'I love you too Taylor whispered back before kissing Emily like her life – quite literally – depended on it.

'AGENT PRENTISS' he shouted, forcing her to glance up at him.

The gun was aimed in her direction; tilted towards Taylor until Emily sat up completely; still straddling her girlfriend and still applying pressure to the still bleeding wound.

'Do you want to die?'

'No.'

He walked in until he was standing over them; his gun pressed to Emily's forehead.

'Do you want to die?'

'No, you bastard, I don't.'

'Let's try this again' he said before lowering his gun to aim at Taylor's head. 'Do you want to die? Or do you want _her _to?'

Emily looked at her girlfriend; her one and only. The one person outside of her team she would gladly take a bullet for if it would protect her. So when she looked up at Chris again; and knowing he was expecting an answer, she said what she knew would keep her Taylor safe until the team came in and saved her.

'Yes. I want to die.'

And then it all went black.

* * *

_A/N: Wouldn't you all just kill me if I left it there…_

_A bit choppy I know, but I really struggled to write this out how I imagined it in my head, so I just hope you can all picture it the way I did._

_Reviews? :)_


	14. Heroes & Hospitals

_A/N: I wouldn't leave you hanging there! But this one is longer for leaving you there for a week hahaha_

_This one's more from the team's point of view for obvious reasons…_

_You know the deal with the italics_

* * *

'Let's try this again' he said before lowering his gun to aim at Taylor's head. 'Do you want to die? Or do you want _her _to?'

Emily looked at her girlfriend; her one and only. The one person outside of her team she would gladly take a bullet for if it would protect her. So when she looked up at Chris again; and knew he was expecting an answer, she said what she knew would keep her Taylor safe until the team came in and saved her.

'Yes. I want to die.' And then it all went black.

* * *

'EMILY!' Taylor managed to shout out despite the pain it caused her. She barely registered what Chris was doing behind her as she attempted repeatedly –without any success – to prop herself up on her elbows to see what was going on with her girlfriend.

'Your turn now sweetheart' she turned her head to see him standing by her side, a grin on his face at her distress and his gun pointing in her direction. 'Do you want to die?'

'No, you son of a bitch, she doesn't' Taylor heard a woman's voice say behind her, and before she had any time to even glance around a bullet ripped through Chris's chest; right through his heart, and he fell to the ground beside her.

'We've got them Hotch. UnSub's dead. We're in the basement.' She heard a man's voice say… almost as if he was on the phone?

All Taylor could see in between her eyes drifting open and shut was a flash of blonde hair by her side as this stranger threw Chris's gun across the room towards the man and proceeded to shove Chris away from her towards the wall. Before she knew it this woman was kneeling by her side, applying the same pressure Emily had been previously.

'Hi Taylor, I'm JJ. The medics are on their way; just hang in there for me'

'Emily' Taylor managed to rasp out again, noticing that the amount of time her eyes were shut was quickly beginning to outweigh the amount of time they were open. 'Go to Emily' she murmured, forcing her hand to execute a pathetic attempt at a shove against JJ's forearm.

'Okay Taylor, okay. Derek, take over here please.' Barely a millisecond passed before JJ's hands were replaced by Morgan's.

'Hey there Taylor, I'm Derek. I'm really hoping you've heard of me.' A ghost of a smile settled on Taylor's lips as she thought of how highly Emily had spoken of this man, and the woman who'd just been in the same position above her. 'Now here's the thing; Em will kill me if I'm the one who let you go, so you've gotta hold on now for me okay? The medics are here, but I'm not gonna leave your side okay?'

JJ was experiencing the same problems trying to keep a quickly-fading-away Emily from slipping into unconsciousness. As she'd placed her hands over the bullet wound in her best friend's torso; right underneath her breasts, she'd prayed a silent prayer that the bullet hadn't already killed her. When she saw Emily's eyelids flickering open and closed, and the silent words trying to escape her lips, she'd almost done back flips just at the fact that there was still hope.

'Taylor' she'd whispered, and after all the years JJ had known her, she knew it was a question.

'She's hanging in there Em, Derek's got her. I need you to hang in there too, okay? The medic's are coming in.'

No sooner had those left her lips than a blur of medical professionals and their equipment ran into the room; two stopping by Derek and Taylor, and two heading straight for JJ and Emily.

Another silent prayer was sent up by JJ, that her best friend – and the woman she hoped she'd have the chance to get to know – would make it to the hospital… and would walk out of there again.

* * *

JJ hated hospitals. Bar Henry being born in one, she couldn't think of a single other good thing that had ever taken place in her life being in a hospital. Just the smell reminded her of the night she'd waited with her parents in a room just like the one she was in now, just to be told what she already knew. Your sister's dead, and she's not coming back.

_Emily's dead and she's not coming back_ was the thought now spinning circles in her mind, no matter how much she tried to shake it away.

* * *

'WHAT DO WE KNOW' Garcia's shouted question echoed down the corridor leading to the open plan waiting room. She was running, with Andrea in tow, both of them holding hands like they were each others lifeline. 'Well?' She questioned again when she reached the team and none of them had responded.

'Not a lot, I'm sorry' Hotch replied. 'They're both in surgery, and no one has been to update us yet.' An apologetic look was plastered on his face as he looked at Andrea, when deep down he wanted to cry just as much as Garcia now was.

Andrea silently nodded and walked over to the empty seat next to JJ.

'They'll be okay. They have to be' JJ whispered, more to herself than to her neighbour.

'I hope so' Andrea replied anyway, before taking in JJ's appearance. 'Jennifer honey, why don't we go to the bathroom, and clean you up?'

'Clean me up?' JJ looked up, confusion gracing her features.

'Your hands, honey, and your clothes…'

Only then did JJ look down and realise that her once white shirt was stained red with crusting blood, and her hands were coated in a layer also.

'Oh my god' she muttered before she ran out of the waiting room and straight for the bathroom.

After watching JJ fly past him; Derek ventured a look at his own hands, which similarly were still covered in blood. Unlike JJ, however, Derek stayed rooted to the spot. Unable to escape the crushing feeling taking over his body, and the terrible sense of deja vu at being in a hospital with the blood of someone close to him on his hands. Granted, it was Taylor's blood, not Emily's, but so what? This was the woman his best friend, his sister even, spent her life with.

He was pulled from the sensation he was sinking by a firm hand on his shoulder.

'How about we go ask for some scrubs or something for you and JJ to change into?' Rossi's caring eyes encouraged him to follow.

'Penelope' Rossi said over his shoulder as he led Derek away. 'Can you go look after JJ? I'll hand in clean clothes when I get some.'

'Sure' Penelope whispered, having never seen her 'chocolate thunder' so visibly shaken.

* * *

Garcia cautiously pushed open the door to the ladies bathroom, peeking round the edge 'Jayje?' She was greeted by the sight of JJ in front of a sink, her right arm wiping her mouth while her left hand turned on the tap. Looking around for anyone else in there, the smell of vomit confirmed Garcia's thought that that was probably what JJ had been doing the past five minutes. She turned her head back to see JJ vigorously scrubbing her hands in the sink, with tears threatening to spill over from her bright blue eyes.

'Oh Jayje' Garcia walked over to stand beside one of her two badass crime fighting ladies whom she'd never seen so shaken, aside from maybe when she herself had been shot. Running with that thought she placed a hand to steady one of JJ's arms, halting her movement and forcing her to meet her eyes in the mirror. 'She'll be fine Jayje. Look at me, I survived a bullet. And if you're seriously there thinking that one tiny bullet can kill the amazing Emily Prentiss when it couldn't kill yours truly, well, if she was stood here she'd kick your ass.'

'A bullet, maybe not Pen, but she was there for days. The medics said most if not all of her ribs are broken, she's got head trauma and she's clearly been beaten. You and I both know she was raped at least once thanks to that video…' she shuddered at the thought, but she'd seen the bruising on her friends thighs in person after all. 'That's a hell of a lot to survive. And you know what?'

JJ spun away from the sink so she was facing Garcia fully, her hands dripping soapy water onto the floor. 'Even if Emily's fine, Taylor might not be. And if Taylor's fine, Emily might not be. They both have to be okay Pen, they have to be. When I went into that room, the only thing on Taylor's mind was that I helped Emily, despite the amount of blood she'd clearly already lost. And when I went to Emily, the only thing she said was 'Taylor'. How can anything be okay again unless they _both _walk out of this?'

Her eyes searched Garcia's for answers, and, not seeing any, only fresh tears, she turned back to the task at hand. 'And this won't come off' she continued to scrub her hands raw.

'Jayje… JJ… JENNIFER JAREAU!' Garcia finally reached out and stilled her movements by grabbing her wrists. 'You've got it all. They're clean JJ, they're clean.' She moved to hold her friends hands tightly.

'I can still see it' JJ whispered, finally allowing the tears to escape.

* * *

When Derek knocked on the ladies bathroom door before pushing it open, he wasn't ready for what he was about to see. The sight that greeted him was his baby girl on the floor, with JJ sitting in her lap, both crying hysterically. He slowly walked over and crouched in front of them.

'Hey Jayje' he spoke quietly, so as not to spook them. His eyes were slowly met by baby blues as she wiped her face clean. 'Here' he placed some clean scrubs on her lap and a bag to put her dirty ones in. 'I'll be outside in the waiting room' he said again before placing a kiss to each woman's foreheads and leaving the room again, donned in his own light blue scrubs.

* * *

After changing and cleaning herself up, a now blood – and make-up – free JJ had joined the rest of the team in the waiting room again. She was curled up against Penelope, her shoes kicked off and her knees tucked under her chin. The sound of the clock on the wall ticking was really starting to piss her off. _God I hate hospitals_.

'Family of Emily Prentiss?' A middle aged woman in scrubs with a medical file broke everyone from their separate morbid thoughts.

'I'm Supervisor Special Agent Aaron Hotchner; she's an agent in my department.' Hotch announced, standing up with his badge.

'Okay. I'm Jenna Moore; I'm the doctor assigned to Agent Prentiss. I'll cut to the part you want to hear; she made it through the surgery. We almost lost her quite a few times, but she's a fighter. Her injuries include a grade two concussion; - which I want to keep a particularly close eye on due to her past history - eight fractured, broken, or bruised ribs, a whole host of superficial wounds ranging from cuts requiring stitches to slight bruising, and the obvious bullet wound. Now Agent Prentiss was lucky in that the bullet didn't hit any major organs, however it did cause a lot of internal damage regardless, and caused both external and a heavy amount of internal bleeding. We managed to tie off the internal damage, and so with heavy observation I'm not overly concerned about the healing process there. Two things do concern me however, one, due to heavy bruising on her upper thighs, I have ordered a rape kit to be completed, which is currently in progress, and I feel that I have to warn you I believe she was sexually assaulted multiple times. Two; due to the extent of her injuries, and the risks involved with not only a severe head injury, but also the rib cage damage as well as complications from the bullet wound; we have been forced to place Agent Prentiss into a medically induced coma to give her body time to heal. Now, we are going to keep her in this condition for the next few days while we wait out any complications that may arise, but I need to warn you that after that time we will be easing her off the life support machines, and if she doesn't function on her own within days of that time; I regret to tell you that she most likely won't wake up at all.'

* * *

It was another half an hour of waiting before yet another doctor joined the team in the waiting room.

'Family of Taylor Williams?' a younger man with a medical file surveyed the room.

Taking a deep breath, and hold of both JJ and Penelope's hands, Andrea looked up. 'I'm her mother.'

Nodding, the doctor came and sat opposite her.

'Okay. My name is Alex Cook; I'm the doctor who is treating Taylor.'

'Treating. As in…'

'As in I'm glad to say your daughter is still with us Mrs Williams.'

'Yeah?'

'Yes Mrs Williams, which I have to say I'm eternally grateful for, she's the only other person who can hold their drinks as much as me on nights out' he chuckled.

'You know her?'

He nodded. 'We went through college and then med school together. I know Emily too. So here's what happened, we lost her a couple times, but you and I both know she's a fighter. She has some superficial injuries, a grade two concussion and bruised ribs, but to be honest she has more defensive wounds than anything else. Due to the stab wound; she lost a lot of blood. We are going to have her going through blood transfusions the next few hours to keep her stable. Her internal injuries due to the knife were severe, but we got them under control and sewed up. I know she came in with Emily; and after consulting her doctor, we ran a rape kit on Taylor too, but I'm relieved to tell you it came up clean; she wasn't sexually assaulted at any point okay?'

Relieved by that revelation, Andrea asked what she really wanted to know. 'So she's going to be fine?'

'She's stable at the moment, although she's in intensive care along with Emily due to their injuries. She's still with us because of whoever kept pressure on her injury; otherwise the blood loss would've been too vast for her to recover. However, she still lost a lot of blood, and her internal injuries are serious, so I don't want to promise you she'll be fine. Truth is - we've been forced to place Taylor into a medically induced coma to prevent any complications. When we take her off the life support machines, it's basically a fifty/fifty chance that she'll function on her own again.'

* * *

JJ entered the hospital room still in her scrubs with Derek at her side; feeling like a medical student way out of her depth. Emily looked so small and fragile in the bed; with wires all over her and machines doing the living for her. Cuts, scratches and bruises adorned every piece of bare skin she could see, and as she took a seat by the side of her bed she was overwhelmed by what a person could go through in just a few days.

As JJ took Emily's hand and held on tight, she repeated the same phrase over and over in her mind.

_Just make sure you wake up Emily; we all need you. Taylor needs you. _

* * *

_A/N: Well there you go! They've been rescued! Hope you liked bad-ass JJ busting in with her cheesy one-liner hahaha_

_I know I'm cruel putting them both in the same life-or-death situation, but neither one of them was going to wake up straight after surgery 100% fine; so lets just see what happens next… _

_Also I know it's not medically perfect but I hope it sounded like it haha_

_This one was more team-centred I know, so I hope it made sense and that you guys liked it despite lack of Emily and Taylor! _

_I am aware it was JJ and Derek heavy but I wanted them to find them and then for you guys to see them dealing with that... And no, femslash fans this isn't going to suddenly shift into a JJ/Emily story; despite how much I wrote JJ in this chapter. I was trying to convey a best friend worrying about another best friend, and I hope it came across that way!_

_Thoughts/reviews?_


	15. Comas & Storybooks

_A/N: Sorry for the delay! It's my first full week back at college, so things have been crazy. Plus I decided to make my other story into a series, and once I'd written the second chapter for that, I couldn't stop. I haven't really been in the head space for this story this last week, plus I have a general idea where this story is going from the next chapter onwards, and I struggled to write this one. Therefore this is shorter than usual, and more of a filler-chapter. I'll have a longer one up as soon as I can!_

_Hope it's up to scratch!_

* * *

One week. It had been one whole week… and nothing. Not a finger twitch; not an eyelid flicker, not a murmur, not a moan. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. And the team were sick of it. The head of the FBI, and even section chief Strauss had signed the team out of active duty until at least the fate of Emily had been determined; fully aware that the team wouldn't be up to their usual standard with one of their family in limbo.

They were keeping constant vigil at the hospital; with Emily having been moved from intensive care to the general wing of the hospital, and following Hotch pulling some strings and getting them both into private rooms, and out of the wards, they only had to go between a couple of rooms to see both the women.

Penelope was splitting time between sitting by Emily's bedside, comforting Andrea by Taylor's, and just generally being the ray of sunshine holding everyone together… when she wasn't crying herself that is. Derek wouldn't leave Emily's hospital room, wouldn't let her out of his sight. The nurses had gotten so used to him being there that they just left a blanket on the couch in her room for him every night, and winked at him as they snuck it away again in the morning. Hotch checked in everyday, when he wasn't dealing with the mountains of paperwork that apparently had to be dealt with when an agent on your team gets dragged into a case. Rossi came every afternoon and just sat holding Emily's hand; promising many nights with good wine if she'd just wake up. Reid was there bright and early every morning to read the paper to Emily that she liked, and then stayed there until any other team member came along, reading different books to her. JJ had been crying constantly, needing her best friend to wake up. Needing the last memory she has of her not to be her on a concrete floor, blood running through JJ's hands.

* * *

Today she was deploying the big guns. She was bringing Henry to see his favourite auntie.

'Hey Reid, Derek' she smiled at them as she walked in, holding Henry's hand tight to prevent him from diving on Emily. She crouched down to his height. 'Okay buddy, remember what I said?'

'Aunt Emmy's hurt so be careful.' He said with determination.

'That's it. Okay, here' she lifted him into her arms, walked the couple paces to Emily's bed and deposited her son by her side.

* * *

Emily still looked so small on that bed. Some of the more harsh cuts and bruises were slightly faded, and slightly healed; but you could still tell she was broken. She let out a sigh as she sank down into the chair next to Derek, Reid having slunk out of the room to get them all coffee. She watched her son tentatively edge his way closer to Emily, almost lying next to her as he began to softly speak into her ear.

'Hi Emmy. It's Henry… Mommy told me that a bad man hurt you, and that you're sleeping till you feel better.'

JJ could feel herself welling up already at his words, and saw Morgan shift in his seat next to her, bringing his hand up to his face. She couldn't believe how grown up he sounded when he was talking determinedly to his 'Emmy'.

'Do you remember when I spent the weekend with you when Mommy and Daddy went away?' JJ looked up from her friends face back to her son's, her eyebrows shooting up at whatever memory he was referring to, as she leant forward slightly to hear whatever he had to say.

'And we spent the whole Saturday playing and drawing and eating ice cream' he lowered his voice to a whisper, although in the silent room JJ and Derek could still hear him. 'And you made me promise not to tell mommy how much I'd eaten…that it was our secret?' JJ smiled at the antics of her son and best friend.

'But on the Sunday I woke up sick with the flu and you spent the whole day reading to me and watching cartoons. And I had Stitch with me, and you tucked us up in bed and told me that Stitch would protect me in the night, and make me feel better in the day.'

JJ automatically knew which toy her son was referring to. 'Lilo and Stitch' was their film. Many a night JJ had picked up her son only to be told he'd forced Em to watch it again; not that she really minded – even though she tried to pretend to JJ she did, the happy spark in her eyes told otherwise. On his last birthday, Emily had bought her son a pile of books – that JJ knew they were slowly but steadily working through, as Henry refused to read those particular ones with anyone but his Emmy – and Stitch. Henry's Stitch teddy was the only other toy that had pride-of-place in bed with him at night other than Brian, Henry's teddy bear he'd had since he was a toddler. JJ watched as her son pulled the backpack he'd insisted on bringing off his back, and unzipped it. Out he pulled Stitch, and a book she couldn't see the name of from where she was sat. She and Derek exchanged a look at the sweetness of her son, before turning back towards them.

* * *

'Well' Henry pulled back the covers slightly from Emily's body 'now he will protect you from any more bad men, and he will make you feel better.' He lifted Emily's right arm up, and slotted Stitch against her side, folding her arm around to hold it close to her side. Satisfied Stitch was in a position to look after his aunt Emmy; Henry pulled the book up, as if to show Emily.

'I brought your favourite book Emmy; remember when you said that there might be other Aunt Em's but you'll always be mine? Well Mommy keeps crying so I know that you are really hurt… I need you Emmy. Wake up soon please'

And with that Henry opened the book, and began to slowly read to her the best he could.

'Do..ro..thy lived in the mid…st of the great Kansas pra…r..ies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife…'

* * *

_A/N: DISCLAIMER - I DON'T IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM OWN ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ._

_I know this was short, and hardly anything happened, but like I said, it was just meant to be a filler of sorts, until I can get a longer one up with more happening. I hope you liked it anyways; I wanted to explore Henry's relationship with his Auntie like I wanted to explore JJ's with Emily in the last chapter. Reviews, as always, are welcome!_

_(I hope to have the longer one up at the latest on Sunday)_


	16. Coffee & Eyes

_A/N: *waves nervously* Hi :) _

_So I know that I said I'd have this up at the latest (last) Sunday, but I was sick all week so I'm hoping you guys will let me off! _

_This one is also super short…but I'm dedicating tomorrow to write a longer one which I will have up tomorrow or Monday I PROMISE._

_Hopefully the plot line in this will make up for the wait seems as it's what you guys have been asking for!_

* * *

JJ took her seat once again by Emily's side. Having sent Reid home over an hour ago to get some sleep – which she knew she could do with too, but she couldn't sleep knowing Emily was all alone in the hospital every night – she was getting to work on her third cup of coffee that morning… at least this one was decaf, right?

She pushed some stray hair out of Emily's eyes before sighing, and beginning her usual might-as-well-be-talking-to-myself routine.

'Hey Em. It's me, JJ, again… I don't need to tell you the same things do I? All you need to know is that Taylor's hanging in there, and we all need you to wake up…'

She leant back, picked up the newspaper left by Spencer and began to read, keeping a firm grip of Emily's left hand in hers.

'Let's see what's going on outside this hospital shall we?' she whispered more to herself than to Emily.

* * *

A few minutes later she was distracted by a tightening grip around her hand, just to look up expectedly to see Emily hadn't stirred. Shaking it off as her imagination, JJ turned her attention back to the newspaper, just to feel another small squeeze a few minutes later.

'Em?' JJ leaned towards her friend, noting the slight furrowing of Emily's forehead and the way her eyes were beginning to squint under the bright hospital lights. A slight moan escaped her best friend's lips and JJ unconsciously held her breath waiting for her to finally wake up.

Then it happened. Those beautiful big brown eyes opened and JJ could've done cartwheels down the corridor if she wasn't so focused on her coming to. She watched as Emily's eyes met the bright light, and moaning, she turned her head away, her eyes squeezed tightly shut again before they flickered open, focusing in on the blonde.

* * *

'Hi' a broken whisper of a voice escaped chapped lips, and JJ let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding.

'Hi' she grinned, tears already welling up as she enveloped Emily in a tight hug until she heard a slight wince beneath her. Pulling away, she sat back on the chair – although pulled it closer to the bed – and pushed all hair off of Emily's face. 'You scared the shit out of us, you know that right?'

'S-sorry'. The voice may be broken, but it was sure as hell Emily Prentiss's, and JJ didn't fight the tears anymore.

'Don't you dare be sorry, this isn't your fault! He did this.'

She watched Emily finally comprehend where she was, and as she saw understanding register in those brown eyes, she braced herself for the question she knew was coming. That same name she was going to direct towards JJ for answers, just like she did in that god forsaken basement.

'Taylor?'

JJ took a deep breath, formulating a response that would somehow make this easier for Emily to understand.

'She's still asleep Em. Just like you where up till right now… but she'll wake up, I mean you just did! She's gonna be fine. …speaking of Taylor, why didn't you introduce her to us? She's pretty hot' JJ smiled, trying to lighten the mood before it had chance to darken further.

Ignoring JJ's question, Emily tried to work out how serious a condition her girlfriend must me in to still be asleep like she was "up till right now".

'How long was I out?' Emily's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at JJ.

'…Ten days.' JJ watched as yet again Emily's eyes showed her processing what was being said, and she witnessed the exact moment that the severity of that statement dawned on her best friend.

'I want to see her Jen' Emily's eyes were pleading, and JJ knew she couldn't prevent it from happening.

'Okay Emily, I'll make you a deal. I was supposed to get a doctor as soon as you woke up to come in and check on you. How about I do that, and once they've finished I'll talk to them about seeing Taylor?'

'Promise?' the still raspy but getting vaguely clearer voice begged.

'I promise.'

* * *

_A/N: Annnddddd she's awake! I'd love to hear what you guys think, maybe to shape the next chapter, and what you guys think should be Taylor's fate._

_*Runs off to start next chapter*_

_(I'm also going to be getting more Kennedy Curse up within the next couple days for any readers of that)_


	17. History & Broken Promises

_A/N: Well, I made you guys a promise, and I ALWAYS keep my promises, so here we go…_

_As always italics are thoughts; except for when obviously used for emphasis, however, in this chapter there's a flashback in italics – still in Emily's thoughts though – just in case you wondered._

* * *

_Here we go Emily. Breathe. Just breathe._

It had been a little under an hour since Emily had woken up, and after she'd agreed – reluctantly – to be checked over, and following much persuasion aimed at doctors by JJ; and subsequently some badge-flashing on Hotch's part, Emily was now in a wheelchair being pushed to Taylor's room a few doors down. She'd refused to see any of the team until she'd seen Taylor, and even Hotch hadn't been allowed near her, the only communication between Emily and her boss being her asking – via JJ – if he could pull some strings to allow her even just five minutes with her girlfriend.

JJ was walking next to the wheelchair being pushed by a nurse, just taking I how nervous Emily looked. In all the years she'd know the woman; she'd never seen her so… _not _'Special Agent Emily Prentiss'. So _not _a kick-ass FBI agent. So unravelled. So broken.

She was attacking her nails at record pace; her brow furrowed with the pain she was experiencing – not helped by the fact she was refusing pain medication until she'd seen Taylor because she wanted to be fully coherent. Her hair was a curly mess and her eyes were trained in front of her, carefully analysing the hallway as though she was trying to work out what room Taylor was in without being told.

'Here we are' the nurse announced, then turned to JJ and spoke quietly 'I'll be back to get her. I'll stay away as long as possible, but if her pain gets worse call for someone'

'Okay' JJ smiled and took the place behind Emily the nurse had vacated.

Leaning down to Emily's level, she asked gently 'are you sure you want to see her like this?'

Emily didn't respond, and if JJ wasn't scrutinising her so carefully, she'd have missed the slight nod. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and rolled the brunette inside.

* * *

Emily couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips as she took in the sight before her.

Taylor, _my Taylor, _was right there. Broken, but alive. She looked so small. _God how cliché!? _

Her light, usually straight, brown hair was tucked behind her ears; her fringe pushed clear of her face. A cannula was hooked into her nose, helping her to breathe. _Well at least she's not on a ventilator._ Her eyes were closed tightly in her deep sleep, and Emily just knew that this moment marked the start of the wait to see them open again, to look into those beautiful shining hazel eyes and see her soul reflected in them. To know she was fine. That _they_ were fine.

It was only when a voice grabbed her attention from scrutinising Taylor – before it had even really begun – that Emily realised there was someone else in the room other than the couple.

'Emily' a voice gasped out. Looking up she realised it was Taylor's mom, so she plastered on a smile, however fake it may be.

'Andrea. Hi'

'Oh sweetheart.' Before she knew it, Emily was one again engulfed in a mostly one-sided display of affection, with Andrea's arms holding her tightly as though she'd disappear at any second.

'Hey, I'm okay' Emily attempted to reassure her

'When did you wake up!?' Andrea pulled back to look Emily in the eyes, cupping her cheeks in her hands

'Like an hour ago. I just need to see Taylor' Emily replied, before looking straight past her might-as-well-be mother-in-law and back at her might-as-well-be-wife.

'Go ahead honey' Andrea stood out of the way as JJ wheeled Emily the last few feet to Taylor's side.

Emily was so consumed in the sight of Taylor at that moment that she didn't notice JJ and Andrea proceed to leave the room. Taking hold of Taylor's hand, Emily took a few shaky deep breaths and after placing a kiss on her skin, she started to speak.

* * *

'So what did Doctor Moore say?'

JJ had barely shut the door behind them before Andrea began her questioning.

'I'm not really sure; she wouldn't let me stay while she looked her over'

'She wouldn't?'

'No. I'm guessing she didn't want me to know… the extent of her injuries'

'So she hasn't been told we know?'

'No, but I suppose we should see how she reacts to having the team around her first and then maybe if she pulls away from the guys we could gently let her know?'

'Oh God help her' Andrea said, more to herself, as she turned to watch Emily talk softly to her daughter.

* * *

Emily gently lowered her girlfriend's hand from her lips. 'Hi Tay' she whispered 'it's me. …I'm okay. …I just… I just need you to wake up okay? Like right now. …because the truth is I can't do this without you. …I can't live without you. …and right now, I don't feel like I can breathe until I see those eyes looking at me.'

She felt the tears begin to flow freely down her cheeks, but she made no moves to stop them. She never had to around Taylor; she was the one person she could break down completely with, right to her most vulnerable.

Growing up; she never felt any affection from her mother. Her dad had skipped out when she was nine years old, and after that her little trust in the companionship of others was shattered; not helped by the fact her mother basically turned all the blame on her rather than admit that her dedication to the job had pushed away her husband. When she met Taylor; that all changed.

She was no longer happy – content, even – with being on her own, in fact she craved to be with Taylor all of the time, 24/7… because it never mattered what she told her; that she'd been hooked on drugs and alcohol… that she'd tried to kill herself… Taylor stayed. And when she told her the real reason behind her suicide attempt; when she did the whole 'I'm gay' speech for the second time in her life… Taylor stayed. Correction – Taylor kissed her senseless, and then promised to stay, that it didn't matter, that she herself had been fighting feelings for Emily for the past four years, and that she never wanted to be anywhere else but by her side.

She'd kept that promise, that promise of '_I'm never going anywhere, Em. I'm going to love you forever_' since they were twenty-two. _Thirteen fucking years_ she'd been keeping that promise, and Emily couldn't even keep her safe for however long they'd been in that hell hole. Sure, they'd broken up for six years; but they'd never stopped loving each other, and as far as they were concerned, those years never happened, that fight had been resolved a long time ago, and she didn't want to think about _that _night ever again, only right now it was all she could think about. She'd broken the one promise she never thought she would.

* * *

_'For God's sake. How long does it take to do a fucking x-ray' Emily mumbled to herself whilst trying to pour herself a cup of coffee with her good hand._

_'A surprisingly long time' a familiar voice echoed round the empty waiting room from behind her. Frozen to the spot, Emily didn't want to turn around through fear it was who she thought it was. She was saved the trouble though, when a steady hand – made up of fingers she __**definitely **__recognised grasped the coffee pot over her own hand and poured the thick liquid into a Styrofoam cup. _

_'Here' that voice said softly right down her ear. Emily could feel her chest against her back, her breath on her neck, and her arm braced along her side as she put the coffee pot down to her right. 'Now what could you have possibly been doing in the middle of the night to have to come get an x-ray done when everyone here's on the graveyard shift?'_

_Emily swallowed audibly, trying to come up with a believable excuse. 'I fell… as I got out of my car… landed heavily on it.'_

_'You always were a terrible liar Emily Prentiss' she felt the woman back away a few steps and heard her sit on one of the couches behind her._

_The way she said her name was all the confirmation she needed, and after gulping down a significant amount of caffeine, she turned to face her. 'Taylor' Emily said in way of a greeting, and took a seat on the couch opposite her former lover._

_'Wow. Really Emily? You blew me off, we haven't seen each other in nearly six years, and all you can say to greet me is my name? Am I supposed to be happy you even remember it?'_

_Emily cringed at the obvious hurt still present. Hell, she was still hurt herself, but she had wanted to believe Taylor had moved on at least._

_'I'm sorry; it's just a shock to see you. What are you doing here?' With the pointed look shot at her from Taylor, she realised how stupid that question was. _

_'I'm just here for the free coffee' Taylor deadpanned, sarcasm oozing from her voice, putting even Emily's sarcastic tendencies to shame. _

_'Stupid question, I get it. So you got your dream job then'_

_'Yep, I'm a fully qualified paediatric oncologist. Something you'd know if you'd stuck around'_

_Ignoring the last part of that particular statement; Emily continued her bridge-building technique 'Well good, I'm glad. So how long have you been at this hospital?'_

_'Can we cut the crap Emily?' Taylor's hands shot up in annoyance. 'Why don't you take a second to realise that this is our first conversation in six years; and you've not even had the decency to tell me where you've been all this time, what you've been doing. 'Cause I sure as hell don't know!'_

_'I don't mind going somewhere to talk with you, I really don't, but I can't talk about it here Tay, please trust me on that.'_

_Looking at the sincerity in her eyes, Taylor nodded. _

_'I get off shift at 5. Be in this room Emily or I swear to God…' she said as she got up and headed towards the door._

_'I'll be here.' Emily promised as Taylor left the room._

* * *

_The next two hours had been the longest of Emily's life. She'd had her wrist set in plaster – something she found to be wholly unnecessary considering it was only fractured, not broken – and then she'd been killing time in the world's most boring waiting room. Taylor had shown up promptly at 5am, and Emily would be lying if she said it hurt a little to see Taylor so relieved that she'd actually kept her promise. After a more-than-a-little-awkward drive to Taylor's small apartment, they were now sitting in her living room, with Taylor expectedly waiting for some kind of explanation from her once-girlfriend._

_'What happened, Emily? Why'd you break up with me one day and take off? What did I do?'_

_'You didn't do anything, it's more complicated than that…'_

_'Then uncomplicate it'_

_Exhaling loudly, Emily looked up into Taylor's eyes. 'I got a phone call, not long after graduation, when you were about to go on to do your post-grad stuff. It was from the CIA. They wanted me.' Emily watched Taylor's eyes widen at the statement and gave it a few seconds before continuing. 'They said they'd seen me excel in my courses, and that I was exactly what they needed in the agency. You know I had no idea what to do after college. I mean, I've always wanted to be in the FBI. The BAU in fact, you remember? What David Rossi does?'_

_'That author guy you used to read nearly as much as Vonnegut?' _

_'Nowhere near as much' Emily muttered, making Taylor chuckle slightly 'but yeah, him. Anyway, they wanted me but they wanted me for some very specific work'_

_'What kind of work? Because I'm not really getting why this makes any difference to us yet'_

_'They wanted me undercover.'_

_'Okay…?'_

_'I never wanted you to be in danger. I could see you excelling in your dreams, and there I was stuck with nothing to do except attempt to get into the Bureau, and I saw this as an easy guaranteed job… only I didn't want to risk you ever getting dragged into it.'_

_'So you broke up with me? Just like that? Didn't I mean more than that to you?'_

_'Taylor, you don't get it. You mean everything to me. I love you so completely that I didn't want there to be any room for someone to find out about you and hurt you to get to me, it just wasn't an option, so I did what I thought was best at the time. …But I've regretted it every single day since, I can promise you that'_

_'Mean'_

_'I'm sorry what?' Emily's face was the picture of confusion._

_'I __**mean **__everything to you. You __**love **__me. Present tense. Not past…?' Taylor's eyes were full of questioning and hope._

_Caught off guard, Emily decided in that very moment that this might just be her second chance, and she was damn well going to grab it with both hands._

_'Yes. Present tense. I love you Taylor. I have since I met you, and I always will.' Emily moved to sit next to her, holding her hands and looking deep into tear-filled eyes. 'I'm sorry for everything, and I need you back. Only I won't apologize for wanting to keep you safe. I promise that I will always keep you safe, that I'll never let anyone hurt you' and with that she captured willing lips with her own._

* * *

She'd been 31 when she made that promise. She'd just been accepted into the BAU and she wanted Taylor back in her life, she'd always been in the picture when she thought of the dream job, the dream life. That'd been four years ago, and she'd already broken that promise. _Thirteen years _Taylor had kept hers, and Emily couldn't keep hers for _four!? _

'This is all my fault. …I'm so sorry Taylor. …I have no idea why you're even with me as it is; I can't even keep a promise to you. …I promised to keep you safe and look and you.' Emily was in a state of full blown hysterics by this point, and was completely unaware of her best friend and Taylor's mother debating to go back in and console her just outside the door.

'I need you to wake up Tay… please just wake up…' Emily dropped her head down onto Taylor's arm and allowed herself to breakdown completely. She was so focused on repeatedly mumbling 'I'm sorry' against her girlfriend's skin that she only realised JJ and Andrea had re-entered when she felt a familiar set of arms close around her, and JJ's soothing voice in her ear as the blonde held her close and let her cry. Andrea sank down into a chair on the other side of Taylor's hospital bed, and watched with her own tears flowing as her daughter's partner unravelled before her very eyes.

* * *

_A/N: Bumper edition or what!?_

_Sooooo this took a turn I didn't expect it to! I actually have the rest of this story planned out, and this chapter was initially supposed to be Emily seeing Taylor, and then Emily's initial reactions to seeing the team again; but once I get writing Emily/Taylor it usually takes a turn I don't expect, and this certainly did! _

_I therefore promise some Emily/Team in the next chapter; which will be up in the next couple of days now I'm in the zone for this story again._

_I'd LOVE to hear about what you think on this one because I'm actually quite happy with this chapter as a whole, despite the turn it took. I wanted to thank those of you who reviewed the last chapter so fast, because it totally fuelled me to get this written today._

_Until next time… _


	18. Jelly & Loneliness

_A/N: So I thought I'd posted this already this week because I've had it written since Wednesday; but clearly not, so here you go!_

* * *

Emily's eyes shot open to be greeted by the same dark room she'd quickly gotten used to waking up in a cold sweat in. Those same machines were beeping. That same clock ticking on the wall. The same scratchy sheets and the same damn hospital gown that took great joy in showing her ass to the whole world.

She'd only been awake for a day. Not even that in fact, she'd woken up early in the afternoon, and now it was 4am. But what with the heavy medication, she'd been asleep most of the time, especially after they upped the dose after she'd seen Taylor and no-one could calm her down.

She'd never felt so alone in her life. Her girlfriend was lying in the same position down the hall and she couldn't find the strength in her weak body to just get up and walk the few paces to see her.

The couch in the room lay empty. According to JJ, Derek had slept in the room with her at night for the first seven days of the ten she was out cold, until a Doctor who wasn't in on the secret found out and banned the action, what with it being 'against hospital policy' and all. Only right at this moment, despite how alone she felt, Emily couldn't decide if having Derek in the same room would be a comfort or would merely fuel her panic.

A part of her knew it was irrational; Derek hadn't hurt her. Hotch hadn't hurt her. Dave hadn't hurt her. Spencer hadn't hurt her. ...And yet she didn't want them anywhere near her. She flinched at JJ's touch as it was, how was she going to explain why she was so jumpy to a group of profilers without them figuring out the real reason why?

JJ was safe, she wouldn't ask, she'd just channel her maternal instincts and ignore how she moved away from anyone's touch. Only she knew her partner, and Derek _would_ ask, and she knew that he'd immediately figure out what happened in that basement, on that floor... on that stained mattress... And she didn't think she could handle the hurt that would undoubtedly be seen in his eyes. And Hotch's, and Dave's, and yes, even Spencer's.

How was she supposed to explain what happened when she couldn't even understand it herself? When she couldn't even say _the word_ out loud to herself, let alone to her family?

It took a few minutes for Emily to even register the tears tracking down her cheeks, soaking the pillow beneath her, what with one question suddenly shouting for attention in her mind:

_What did he do to Taylor?_

* * *

'So what's the plan?' Derek directed the question on everyone's mind towards Hotch, which resulted in five pairs of expectant eyes looking towards their leader for answers.

'I think we should send Garcia in with JJ first, because we know she's okay with JJ, and if that goes well they can ask her if we can all go in to see her. We don't want to push her into anything, and we certainly don't want any healing that may have already taken place in her mind to be unravelled by us overwhelming her too soon.' With his team seemingly satisfied with that answer, Hotch took a seat, quickly mirrored by Rossi, Morgan and Reid, while JJ and Garcia headed towards Emily's room.

Stopping briefly outside JJ turned to her friend 'just take it easy okay Pen, don't go full PG on her'

'I'll try Jayje'

Satisfied, JJ pushed open the door and the two women went to try and establish just how much of their best friend was present in the room.

* * *

'Hey' JJ smiled brightly as she walked in, hoping for more of a response than she'd received the day before. The two women were greeted by the sight of Emily sitting up in bed, propped upright by various pillows, and currently fighting a losing battle against the pain in her body to bring a spoonful of jell-o up to her mouth.

'Hi' came the quiet response muffled by a mouthful of jelly and general avoiding techniques on Emily's part. She tried to smile at her best friends, but she could tell from the reaction of Garcia that it wasn't convincing in the slightest.

'Emily Elizabeth Prentiss. I have one issue and one issue only to talk to you about' Garcia announced before proceeding to sit on the edge of the hospital bed to make sure she had the brunette's full attention. Ignoring the way Emily had flinched at the contact, Garcia grabbed hold of her hand and looked into her eyes. 'Why on Earth would you not tell us about Taylor? I had to go through your phones and laptops; and much as I hated doing that, I learned that she's smart. And beautiful. And brave. And sexy as hell...'

'She is all of those things-' Emily cut her off, putting her jell-o on the table in front of her before meeting Garcia's eyes with her own tear-filled ones. '-but she's also a _she_. ...and I've not exactly had good reactions to that in the past. Plus the longer you guys didn't know, the longer I was worried about telling you because it would be like I'd been obviously lying to you all'

'But we don't care! I know I don't! I don't care that you're gay, or a lesbian, or however you want to word it! You're still _Emily_. You're just Emily with a sexy doctor girlfriend'

'...If she wakes up' Emily whispered, abruptly ending the eye contact and pulling her hand away.

'Hey.' Garcia grabbed either side of Emily's face, forcing her to look at her. 'She's gonna wake up. You did. And besides, if god forbid she doesn't, she'll go knowing just how much you love her'

'How Garcia?' Tears were flowing down her face now, and JJ had to take a seat, not quite believing that for the second time in as many days Emily Prentiss, the master of hiding her emotions was once again breaking down before her very eyes. 'It's _my_ fault she was in that situation in the first place. She's gonna die knowing _I_ killed her'

'I heard it all Emily. He had that God damn camera streaming live. I watched how you refused to let her give up. How she told you she loved you and how you said it back. How you kissed her like it was the last time. How you took a bullet for her. ...Emily c'mon. She was screaming your name you know? She was terrified she'd lost you. She's gonna wake up Em. That's not going to be your last kiss, you're going to have mind-blowing make-up sex. You know how I know that? Because you wouldn't let her give up when she was bleeding out on that floor. The last thing she saw in that room was you with a bullet in your chest, and it's her turn to make sure you don't give up.'

* * *

After calming Emily down somewhat, about an hour later JJ let the rest of the team into her room. As they filed in, Emily visibly flinched at the sudden crowding. Her hospital room was spacious and bright - the perks of a good credit score - yet when the whole team surrounded her Emily felt claustrophobia like she had never experienced before.

After about half an hour of trying to initiate conversation with their saved teammate to no avail; the team made their excuses to leave, with Hotch deciding that maybe sticking with the ease-her-back-in-slowly-approach may be the best course of action.

* * *

'Hey princess' Derek walked in, following JJ making an excuse about going to find coffee, and therefore leaving Emily unaccompanied.

'Hi' a completely unfamiliar voice replied to him. She sounded scared, tired, _broken_ even.

'So talk to me, how did you pull a sexy doctor? I mean I've seen her, and _damn_ Emily. So come on, what's the secret?' Derek deployed full on Derek Morgan charm-mode complete with a lopsided grin and raised eyebrows.

As Emily chuckled, Derek's only thought was that that sound was the sweetest music to his ears he'd ever heard.

'You know somehow I _knew_ you'd react like that to her Derek.' A ghost of a genuine smile graced her lips.

'Hey, I just call it how I see it, and trust me, you're my new wing-woman'

'Well you'll have to wait til I'm out of this damn hospital first' Emily grumbled.

'Oh that's fine, we can have fun here first anyway, you know how I love pushing you around Princess' Derek grinned at the reference.

'Well, seems as you love it so much, will you push me round to Taylor's room?' Emily met his eyes for the first time for more than a few seconds and Derek was shocked at what he saw. Her defences were so completely destroyed that clear as day he could see worry, fear and panic swirling around in the chocolatey orbs before him.

'I will princess, I promise, but we need to talk first' Derek reached out and gently took her hand in his. He saw how her whole body stiffened, and the worry swirling in her eyes dropped away, leaving only fear and panic. 'I'm not gonna hurt you Em. I'd never hurt you' it broke his heart to think she thought he might.

'I know, but that's not helping right now' Emily whispered back, forcing herself to meet his eyes and display some kind of reassurance on her face.

'I need you to know something Em. I know you don't want us to find out something, but I need you to know that we know. We know what he did to you baby.'

'I don't know what you're talking about Derek'

Derek braced himself for the explosion to come. 'We know he raped you Emily...'

Nothing. No explosion. Only Derek wished there had been one, because rather than have his best friend scream at him, something altogether more devastating happened. Emily simply pulled her hand from his grasp, turned her head away from him so she was facing the wall, and whispered two words that ripped his heart out of his chest.

'Get out.'

* * *

_A/N: Sorry again for the wait! So... I had to change one word in the last chapter from 'blue' to 'hazel' because Taylor's eyes blatantly aren't blue. And speaking of; there'll be more Taylor in the next chapter I promise! I had to get up Emily/Team first though._

_The review button down there looks lonely… ;)_


	19. Parenting & Breakthroughs

_A/N: *Smiles nervously* So I know I've been delayed updating and I – as SSACalliope-Prentiss put it – have 'pushed you out of the plane' and left you free-falling… so here's your parachute! (...sort of... you'll see...)_

_I realllllly hope you all like this one!_

* * *

It had been five days since Emily had come back to the world of the living; fifteen days since she had been shot and Taylor stabbed. Two weeks, one day. …and Taylor still hadn't woken up.

Technically Emily had been discharged three days ago; but really she and the hospital staff both knew that she was still getting checked in on every few hours; however rather than being in her own hospital bed, she was permanently planted in the chair next to Taylor's. They'd given up trying unsuccessfully to keep her away from her girlfriend. After two days of Emily being firmly un-cooperative, they'd compromised. - _'We'll discharge you if you stay in the hospital.' 'Oh I'm not going anywhere I can promise you that.'_

So that's how she'd gotten here – _defiance and persuasion works, kids!_ – sitting for her third day in a row in her comfiest sweatpants and her FBI hoodie that Taylor had stolen many a year ago, until it stopped smelling so much of Emily and more of Taylor herself, prompting her to periodically return it to it's rightful owner for her to 'stink it up again' as she so nicely put it.

She knew that the team thought she was shutting down. But truthfully; she felt drained. She didn't have the energy to talk to them or act like she was interested in anything they were saying, because she wasn't. She couldn't care less that Hotch needed a statement from her about what happened. She just needed Taylor to wake up. So she could feel whole again. So she could breathe again. And maybe then she could face the world, because she'd be facing it with the one person she was destined to face everything with. But right now, she was very much alone; despite her BAU-family's best efforts.

She'd hardly acknowledged Derek's existence since the previous day. She knew that he was only looking out for her; that he was perhaps the one person who could even slightly relate to what happened to her, but that would mean admitting that it had happened, and she wasn't ready to entertain that thought yet. Not yet.

Sighing; Emily shifted in the uncomfortable seat, and continued to read Taylor's favourite book to her, in between the many minutes spent just looking at her and begging her to wake up.

* * *

Emily jolted awake yet again from yet another nightmare. She quickly sensed that she was not alone with Taylor in the room and turned to the chair next to her only to find Andrea looking at her with genuine concern; her hands raised as though she had been about to reach out and comfort her, until she'd second guessed her actions.

'I'm okay' Emily automatically threw out into the air, her defensive walls slamming down around her.

'Honey, you and I both know you're far from it' Andrea didn't press her, she simply let the statement sink in before closing the distance and pulling Emily from her upright position to lean against her shoulder. Initially stiff, Emily allowed herself to relax into the embrace, knowing she was safe with the one genuine mother-figure she'd ever had in her life.

'I'm sorry' Emily whispered.

'You also need to stop apologizing. You forget I know you Em sweetheart; I know your defensive streak and I know you push people away when you really need to be held close. So don't ever apologize for being yourself'

Emily remained in Andrea's embrace for a good ten minutes – however to Emily it felt like ten hours after the lack of safe intimacy she'd experienced for a good couple of weeks – before she slowly pulled herself back upright and turned to face Taylor's mother, holding her stare.

'Why don't you hate me?' Emily's face was the picture of tortured confusion and Andrea's heart broke a little more at the sight.

'Why would I ever hate you Emily?'

Emily sighed exasperatedly, running her hands over her face to calm herself down before replying harshly, her voice raising a few octaves in frustration. 'Because this is all my fault! Why won't anyone say it!? Why won't anyone just accept the truth and get angry at me!? YOUR DAUGHTER IS LYING THERE BECAUSE OF ME! IT'S MY FAULT! WHY ARE YOU SO FUCKING OKAY WITH ME? I-'

Emily was cut off by a fairly light but effective slap to the face. Her eyes went wide as she raised her hand to her cheek in shock.

Andrea decided this was a situation requiring full-on Mom-mode. 'If this was your fault Emily; do you think I'd let you anywhere near my daughter!?'

'I-'

'Did you know that by not telling your team this would happen? …well?'

'I…'

'Answer me Emily Prentiss'

'No' Emily's voice was little over a whisper.

'Did you ask that man to abduct Taylor?'

'No but-'

'Did you ask to be abducted yourself?'

'No but I-'

'Did you tell him to hurt her?'

'Stop it'

'Did you ask to be hurt?'

'I know what you're do-'

'Did you tell him to kill her?'

'Andrea-'

Andrea leaned slightly closer to Emily, meeting her tear-filled eyes with her compassionate ones. She took hold of her hands. 'I watched you ask to die over her Emily. I watched you take a _bullet_ for her. You _never_ asked to be in that situation. You _didn't_ do this damage to my girl, he did. You sacrificed yourself for my daughter. If I was going to be angry at you for anything, it would be _this_, that you're blaming _yourself_. I _don't_ hate you Emily. I thank God every minute that one of my daughters is sitting here with me. I'm just praying for the other to wake up and knock some sense into you.'

* * *

11:56 pm. Four more minutes until two weeks two days…

11:57 pm. Three more minutes until sixteen days…

Emily watched the hands go round on the clock way too fast for her liking. The longer Taylor stayed unconscious, the longer the logical part of Emily knew she might not wake up. The longer the hopeful part of Emily fought the logical part.

11:58 pm. Emily sighed, shifting yet again, leaning forward to rest her forehead against the soft skin of Taylor's left forearm whilst tightening her squeeze on her left hand.

Emily could've sworn she felt those skilled fingers squeeze back, but she'd learnt from her mistakes enough in the last couple of days to know it was probably just her imagination.

God that clock was so damn loud – Emily was becoming more and more certain she'd have to rid her home of all clocks in the future.

Then she felt it. Stronger this time. Surely that wasn't her imagination?

12:00 am.

She lifted her head up, and instantly she'd never been happier in her life.

On the sixteenth day, Taylor opened her eyes.

* * *

_A/N: __**ARE WE HAPPY!?**__ XD _

_I am! I've got this story planned out and I've been basically trying to get to this point because 1) I love writing Emily/Taylor, and 2) I have some ideas about how they cope with the experience that I can't wait to explore._

_The next couple chapters will be equally short I think – we'll see – but I have some coming up which will have to be long due to how much I want to get in._

_Please, please, please (!) let me know what you think? This is definitely the chapter I've been the least confident about posting, but it __**had to**__ be done, so I really hope you guys liked it._


	20. Reunions & Tears

_A/N: So I would've put this up earlier but I wanted to get back into updating more often and quicker (weekly at least) so I left this 'til today, knowing that I have more ready to put up very soon. I hope it's worth the wait!_

_I did warn you last week that 'the next couple chapters will be equally short', so just FYI, this and the next one are those 'next couple chapters' then they are longer I promise!_

_(WARNING: References to rape and abuse in this one.)_

* * *

Emily couldn't breathe. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She didn't want to move in case this turned out to be another sick dream that she'd wake up from.

Taylor was awake. She was looking into those beautiful hazel eyes. The ones she could stare into all day long – she knew from experience – without getting bored, because much like her own dark brown eyes, every thought, every feeling Taylor experienced played out in those beautiful bright eyes like a projection of her soul.

'Hi' came the raspy whisper she'd prayed for, and Emily knew she could breathe again.

She didn't waste a second before ducking down and capturing Taylor's lips with her own. They were chapped, and dry, not the lips she knew, but the pressure suddenly pushed against her own; the hand suddenly in her hair, the moan slipping into her mouth, that was all Emily needed to know she was home. Emily put all she had into the kiss, much like she had on that cold, dusty, concrete floor. Only this time she wasn't scared of losing Taylor to death, she was just scared of losing Taylor full stop. She'd fucked up. Andrea had done a little to ease her guilt but she still felt it right there on her shoulders, and she wouldn't blame Taylor for walking away. She wouldn't stop her.

Pulling away; tears were already flowing softly down Emily's face as she prepared herself for the 'Goodbye' she knew would soon swallow her whole.

'Hi' Emily half-laughed, not quite believing she was fully awake. 'I thought I'd lost you'

'Did you hear that?' The breath from Taylor's broken whisper hit Emily's still close lips, making her shiver.

'What?'

Taylor looked like she was about to reply before she pulled Emily down to crash their lips together once more. 'That sound-' Taylor mumbled between kisses '-the heart monitor-' she smiled into Emily's lips as she saw Emily's face register the sound. She pulled away slightly to look her girlfriend in the eyes 'my heart does that every time you even look at me you know that?' Taylor smiled as Emily's eyes widened. She captured her lips one last time, deepening the kiss for a second before pulling away to rest her forehead up against Emily's. 'I love you Emily'

'I love you too' came the instant reply, but Taylor could still see the tears rolling down her cheeks.

'Hey' she tapped Emily's temple to make her open her eyes. 'Look at me. I'm not going anywhere.' She watched as Emily seemed to be shocked at the promise, before she appeared to accept it.

'I know' Emily nodded 'But for a while there you might have'

* * *

'TAYLOR'S AWAKE! TAYLOR'S AWAKE! TAYLOR'S AWA-'

'Woahhh, hold up there Baby Girl. Breathe' Derek stopped Garcia from running straight into him and JJ.

'Taylor's awake' she said again, grinning at her two family members.

JJ chuckled, shaking her head 'Yeah, I think we got that thanks Pen'

'Did Emily tell you that?' Derek joined JJ in laughing at their friend.

After hitting Derek promptly in the bicep Garcia replied with a concerned expression 'Nope. She's not in there. I didn't go in but Andrea was talking to a very much awake-and-sitting-upright Taylor but Emily was nowhere to be seen.'

Instantly JJ and Derek's equally worried eyes met, before JJ took control of the situation. 'That's weird… tell you what Pen why don't we head down to the cafeteria and start that breakfast anyway, and Derek here can go find her'

'Sounds like a good idea, I'll meet you guys there with Em in a bit' Derek shared another look with JJ before heading down the corridor in search of his partner.

Watching Derek walk away, Penelope turned to JJ, squeezing her friends hand 'she'll be okay won't she Jayje?'

'I hope so Pen, I really do.'

* * *

It had been fifteen minutes since Derek started looking for Emily before he took a second to stop and think about where she might be; and by chance he looked out of the window, just to see her sitting on a bench outside a few floors below.

Pushing open the door and holding it open for an elderly couple to enter the hospital again; Derek took the moment he was there to try and gauge her mood from a distance. Smiling at the old woman as the thanked him; Derek began a slow but direct walk towards Emily; purposely walking directly up to her rather than scare her in any way by coming up behind her.

'Hey' he said gently.

Emily looked up and held his gaze for a few seconds before replying 'Hello'

Wincing internally at her already closed off attitude towards him; Derek decided to still attempt to talk to her 'can I join you?'

Again, a delay before she answered him. 'It's a free country.'

After sitting down beside her; Derek took a couple minutes to study his partner. She was attacking her nails with a vengeance almost absentmindedly as she looked up at the sky above the opposite wall of the enclosed courtyard.

Derek thought he'd try again. 'So Taylor's awake. That's good'

'Yeah it is' Emily's quiet, clipped reply came almost instantly.

'When did she wake up?'

'Midnight' Emily stated.

Derek wasn't sure if he was getting the cold shoulder because he tried to make her talk about what happened a couple days earlier; or if she was just in a bad mood, but he made a point to try and keep his temper in check.

'Okay… and have the Doctors said she's okay, or?'

'She's gonna be fine' Emily replied almost dismissively.

Derek breathed slowly before continuing. 'Have you guys talked properly yet?'

'About what?'

'Fuck Emily, what do you think about? The weather!?' Derek snapped, his patience basically gone.

Emily reeled around to face him at his tone. 'Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise that was how you were supposed to talk to your girlfriend when she wakes up from a coma! "Hi sweetie, I'm glad you're okay, should we talk about how I kept you secret from my team and some psycho felt the need to nearly kill us both!?"'

Derek was shocked to see all the emotions playing out in Emily's eyes. No walls of defence. No mysterious Emily Prentiss - just an angry, scared, broken woman screaming out for help.

'Hey' Derek took hold of her hands and waited for her to meet his eyes. 'Look I'm sorry, okay? I just… shit Em this whole situation is so messed up and I don't know what to say to you. If you need me to listen, I'm all ears; if you need to shout at someone, go ahead; if you need to beat the hell out of something, I'll take you to the gym right now and you can beat me up. If you need me, Emily, I'm right here, but you have to tell me what to do'

'I don't know what to do' Emily's voice came out as a defeated, cracked whisper. If Derek wasn't sitting so close he'd have missed it completely. 'I don't know what to say to her Derek. It's my fault. I know you're going to sit here and tell me it's not, and I know what you mean, but right now I can't see the logic okay? I don't know what to do with myself. I want to go up and stay by her side all day and all night like I have been doing but then I know she's going to want to talk about it and I… I can't do that yet'

'Okay' Derek moved closer to her, and as she didn't pull away, he put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. 'Then talk to me. If you don't want to break it all to Taylor yet that's fine, but you need to talk about it Em or it's gonna eat you up. Trust me.'

Emily's face twisted with confusion, then realisation, then shock, before she looked him directly in the eyes. 'I'm not talking about that'

'Emily'

'No Derek. I'm not talking about that'

Derek felt her begin to try and pull away, so he held her steady and caught her eye again.

'Listen, okay. Just listen to me. You know how old I was. You know who did it. You know that I was raped as a kid. Repeatedly.' Derek took a deep steadying breath before continuing. 'I know exactly what you're feeling right now Emily. You feel dirty and used and broken. You feel like no matter how many showers you take up in that hospital room, no matter how hard you scrub your skin raw you can still feel him. You're scared. You don't want Taylor to know, and I get that. You think she'll never want to be with you again.' Derek watched as silent tears flowed down Emily's face as she held eye contact and just listened.

'But I promise you Emily, that woman up there is so in love with you, there's nothing you could say that would make her walk away from you. Hell I bet she's already told you that you're both still good right?' He watched as Emily subconsciously nodded ever so slightly. 'Emily you tell her what he did to you, and I promise she won't think any less of you. I can tell you what she'll do baby. She's gonna kiss you, and hold you close while you cry like I'm doing right now. Only then she's gonna spend every waking moment making sure you know you're still beautiful, and she's gonna kiss you all over to wipe the memory of him away-'

'You don't know that' Derek was shocked to hear his partner's broken whisper interrupting him.

'Princess' Derek wiped the tears away from her eyes with his thumbs. 'I promise you, she's gonna stay with you. And you know what; even if she doesn't, I'm still always gonna be right here next to you. And when you wanna talk about it, this is where I'll be.'

* * *

_A/N: And scene._

_Sooooo we've reached chapter 20 officially, with over 70 reviews (you loyal readers are awesome by the way) and Taylor is officially back with us!_

_Again; I know this was a short one (although, it's longer than the last chapter), but I hope you guys liked it. I wanted to revisit my Emily/Derek friendship again before diving back into Emily/Taylor completely. The next chapter will have a little more Emily/JJ, but after that its TAYMILY all the way I PROMISE. _

_Reviews, as always, would be much appreciated!_


	21. Mashed Potato & Heart-To-Hearts

_A/N: So again; my little troupe of loyal reviewers were awesome as always. You guys really know how to make me want to write more of this story, so thank you._

_The parachute has well and truly gotten you to land, and I hope you like the aftermath! ;)_

* * *

Emily walked slowly but –fairly– steadily down the corridor from the nurses' station to Taylor's room with a grin on her face; even as she leaned headily on the banister along the wall and her body screamed in protest. It had been a week since Taylor had woken up; even longer since she herself had, and she could feel herself getting gradually stronger despite the pain radiating outwards from her stomach and torso.

She opened the door to Taylor's room just to be met with two equally confused expressions in reaction to her overjoyed one.

'What's got you all happy?' Taylor questioned, suspicion dripping in her tone as she attempted to swallow down more god-awful hospital food.

Emily plopped herself down on the side of her bed and exchanged her grin for a smug smile.

'Well, I may or may not have just been told that you can go home tomorrow'

'Seriously!?' Taylor's own face broke out in a grin, prompting Emily's to follow suit.

'Yep. They said they could let you out today but they just wanna make sure everything's definitely okay. Plus they need a guarantee that someone will check in on us everyday' Emily rolled her eyes at the last part of her announcement.

'And who do I have to tell that I'm fine with checking in?' Andrea's voice crept in from the right of Emily.

'Just the doctor when he comes to discharge her tomorrow' Emily smiled gratefully at her before taking the seat to Andrea's right, closest to Taylor's bed. The chair that had become her permanent home for the last couple weeks _– but not anymore!_

'You know for a _doctor_ you seem pretty psyched to get away from a _hospital_' Emily's voice oozed cockiness towards her partner.

Andrea smiled at how much Emily seemed to be getting back to being the Emily everyone knew; especially when she was with Taylor. She'd been informed via Derek that Emily wasn't going to talk about everything that happened to her with Taylor until she was ready, but that she'd been talking to him, and clearly venting with someone else – as well as her breakdown with Andrea herself – was helping to release some of the guilt which she had bottled up inside her.

'I love being here voluntarily, but-'

'It's not voluntarily when you're on the type of money you're on…'

'Hey hey, kids, calm down please, or I'll ground you both!' Andrea interjected as Taylor stuck her tongue out at Emily.

'Considering we're both on "bed rest" isn't that what we already are?' Emily groaned.

'Hey "bed rest" doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing…' Taylor winked at Emily; knowing exactly how she would react. As if on cue, Emily's face flooded a bright red and she began spluttering for words.

'Taylor…your Mom! I- I-'

As Taylor and Andrea both laughed at how flustered Taylor could make her girlfriend; JJ knocked and came into the room, her eyebrows furrowing together as she did

'What's so funny?'

'NOTHING.' Emily nearly shouted and she pushed herself to her feet, wincing as she did. 'Hey Jayje, lets get some coffee' Emily quickly ushered JJ away from her girlfriend and her Mom before she could be embarrassed further.

* * *

'So you can both go tomorrow?' JJ questioned as she focused on adding the right amount of sugar to her coffee

'Yep. I can't wait to get out of here' Emily added milk to her own – a habit she had when she wasn't in work and needed the strong stuff – before shuffling over to an empty table in the hospital cafeteria.

Joining her best friend, JJ took a sip before smiling 'are you feeling better?'

'Sort of, everything still hurts like a bitch, but I'm okay' Emily nodded.

'You seem more like yourself' JJ pushed Emily in the general direction she wanted the conversation to go.

Rolling her eyes at JJ's obvious deviation, Emily just went along with it. 'I've been talking to Derek, but I know you already know that' she shrugged.

'I'm just glad you are, you know?'

'Yeah I know' Emily smiled at the blonde.

'So, you gonna jump Taylor's bones as soon as you're out of here?' JJ deadpanned, causing Emily to almost choke on her coffee.

'Excuse me?' Emily avoided eye contact, making JJ laugh

'Hey I hear lesbian sex is amazing; and you've gotten out of talking about it for years! Your luck has run out my friend' JJ grinned

Emily put on her straightest business face possible before replying 'Everyone wants to know what the sex is like. But as a woman who is supposedly comfortable with her heterosexual sexuality; you shouldn't be interested' her eyebrows raised; almost daring JJ to formulate a comeback. JJ let out a bark of laughter, causing both women to breakdown laughing.

'Seriously though Em; you're completely in love with her aren't you?'

'100 per cent' Emily replied without hesitation. '…look. I'm sorry for not telling you guys, I know I've said it already, but I-'

'Hey, listen to me okay? I went with Morgan to interview Andrea once we found out about Taylor. She explained everything…' JJ reached across the table to grab her hand. 'Don't get mad at her; we needed to know for the case. …she told us about how you went off the rails when you were younger, and… what happened in Rome.' JJ watched Emily steady her breath before she looked back into the blonde's eyes. 'She told us what your bitch of a mom said, and about how everything changed when you met Taylor. I am in no way mad at you Emily; you need to get it out of your head that I am, or that we are, because we're not okay?'

JJ watched Emily digest her words, she felt the brunette squeeze her hand in thanks and watched as a little more guilt was chipped off her shoulders.

Both women drank their coffee in comfortable silence, until Emily broke it again.

'...The sex is pretty amazing.'

* * *

'It's good to see her getting back to normal' Andrea said more out loud to herself than to Taylor. She watched as her daughter sighed and pushed the remains of the lumpy mashed potatoes away from herself.

'Was she really bad before I woke up?' Taylor's eyebrows were fused with worry.

Andrea sighed as she looked up at her daughter's face and tried to piece together a description.

'She… she was terrified Taylor. And rightly so. There was a moment there when we seriously could've lost you and I don't think she could handle that thought; just as I couldn't. She stayed by your bedside every second, holding your hand… hell, the doctors discharged her because she was spending more time here than in her own bed anyway.'

'That doesn't explain what you meant by she's "getting back to normal" Mom'

'She was guilt ridden Taylor. And she was pulling away from all of us and retreating further and further into herself. She wouldn't talk to anyone properly, and she wasn't eating.'

'At all!?'

'I don't think I saw her eat a single thing until that morning you woke up Tay'

'Oh God Em what were you thinking?' Taylor mumbled to herself as she let her head fall back on her pillow, her eyes closing at the harsh hospital lights suddenly in her face. 'She won't talk to me about it Mom' Taylor admitted; still with her eyes closed, her voice no more than a whisper.

'Any of it?'

'No she keeps avoiding the subject. And I get it, I really do, but I feel like I only know half of what happened in that basement, and it's the half that happened to me. …she won't even tell me what her injuries are'

'Give her time baby. That's what she needs.'

* * *

'But seriously c'mon!'

'Okay, but this is really weird you know that right?' At JJ's nod, Emily sighed and after thinking about it formulated her response. 'It's more emotional… I mean your closer… and it feels different from being with a man… look, I can't really describe it to you unless you've done it Jayje'

'Is it like foreplay forever…'

'OKAY, I'm stopping this conversation right there.'

'Spoilsport. …Its fine, I'll just ask Taylor sometime'

'Whatever' Emily smirks before finishing off the last of her coffee and going to get a refill for the both of them. Upon her sitting back down; JJ turned the conversation another direction.

'So how serious are you guys? Like I know now you live together and… in fact, how did I not realise that? I've been to your place before!'

'Um, Jayje, we're both girls… my stuff could be her stuff…'

'I suppose… Anyway, will I be getting to help Garcia plan a wedding in the future?' JJ grinned as she saw Emily smile to herself.

Emily blew a deep breath through her parted lips before meeting JJ's eyes. 'Can I tell you something?'

'Sure'

'When I was lying there in that room… I kept thinking about how I was gonna be in so much trouble with Taylor, for worrying her so much. …It was before I knew he had her too. Anyway; I made a list in my head of things I was gonna do when I got out of there, when you guys came to get me' Emily smiled at JJ.

'What was your list?'

'One: Get out of there alive'

'Check' JJ interjected

'Two: Quit the BAU'

'What?'

'There was a maybe on the end of that one' Emily replied sheepishly.

JJ decided to leave that one for the time being. 'Three?'

'…Ask Taylor to marry me'

JJ couldn't help the squeal that escaped her lips 'Yeah!?'

'Yeah' Emily couldn't help the smile that lit up her face, and JJ could safely say she'd never seen Emily so content.

'Okay is there more?'

'Yep. Four: Marry her in front of the people who matter. …that's you guys'

'Got that' JJ rolled her eyes.

'Five. Go on a honeymoon which lasts months, not weeks.' She watched JJ's eyes widen at the thought. 'I wanna show her all the places I grew up, the places she's heard so much about. I wanna take her to Rome… I want to make good memories there.'

'You _have_ to do that' JJ nodded sadly.

'Last one… I think I want to have kids with her Jayje.'

JJ grinned at that. 'I've said it once and I'll say it again, I can see it'

'Me too. I mean, I could always see Tay as a Mom, but I guess I've always been too scared to bring it up… but I want that Jayje. All of it. The house with the white picket fence and the 2.5 kids. I just want it all with a woman and I think that's what's always held me back.'

'But not anymore?' JJ watched as Emily raised her head again, a smile on her face as their eyes connected.

'Not anymore.'

* * *

_A/N: Quickest update I've ever done? Plus you'll be happy to know I've got the next few chapters written, so I'll be updating every few days from now on :)_

_Hope you guys liked this one! Old Emily coming back to light a little bit and JJ/Emily getting close again._

_Next chapter begins our 'Taymily' healing process, (which a lot of you I know have been waiting for) and I've certainly given myself a lot for them to work through!_

_Reviews really do make my day… :) _


End file.
